NOS Alive

NOS Alive (formerly Optimus Alive! and Optimus Alive) is an annual music and arts festival held in the Algés riverside, close to Lisbon, in Portugal. It is organized since 2007 by the Portuguese live entertainment company Everything is New. Its naming sponsor is telecommunications company NOS (previously named Optimus).

NOS Alive
Optimus Alive in 2013
Genre	Rock, alternative rock, pop, electronica, fado, stand-up comedy
Dates	July (since 2008)
Location(s)	Passeio Marítimo de Algés, Algés, Oeiras, Portugal
Years active	2007–present
Organized by	Everything is New
Website	www.nosalive.com

It takes place during the second week of July and lasts 3 or 4 days. It currently has six stages, including a stage dedicated to fado music and a stage dedicated to stand-up comedy.

The next edition is scheduled to take place between 11 and 13 July 2024.

History

The Alive festival was created by the live entertainment company Everything is New in 2007. The name of the festival is taken from the Pearl Jam song "Alive".^[1] The first edition occurred between 8 and 10 June 2007, under the name "Oeiras Alive!", and had two stages. The headliners were Pearl Jam, The Smashing Pumpkins and the Beastie Boys.

In its second edition, the date of the festival was changed to the second weekend of July and the name of the festival was changed to include a naming sponsor. Between 2008 and 2010, the festival was named "Optimus Alive!", after the telecommunications company Optimus. A third stage was added in the 2009 edition. The 2009 edition was also the only edition to date to have a day dedicated to heavy metal music in the main stage, which had Metallica as the headliner.

In 2011, the exclamation mark was dropped from the festival name, and it became "Optimus Alive" until 2014. To mark its 5th anniversary, an extra day was added to the festival, making it a 4-day event in 2011. A new bandstand stage was added in 2012.

In 2014 the naming sponsor company Optimus changed its name to NOS, and the festival name was changed accordingly to NOS Alive in 2015.

A stage dedicated to stand-up comedy was also added in the 2014 edition.^[2] In 2016, a new stage dedicated to fado music was added.^[3]

The 2020 edition of NOS Alive was planned to happen between 8 and 11 July 2020, with Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and The Strokes as headliners. On 19 May 2020, the festival was cancelled due to the Portuguese government's decision to prohibit all large-scale events in the country until 30 September 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.^[4] Following this cancellation, NOS Alive '21 was scheduled to take place between 7 and 10 July 2021, with all tickets bought for 2020 valid for the new dates or refunded by request. In early May 2021, Álvaro Covões, CEO of Everything is New, expressed his doubts regarding the execution of the festival that year due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.^[5] The festival was cancelled once again on 20 May 2021, and the tickets remained valid for NOS Alive '22.^[6]

The festival returned in 2022 with a 4-day format. This edition had a record total attendance of 210,000 people.^[7]

Location

The festival takes place at the Passeio Marítimo de Algés, a riverside open-area close to the limits of the city of Lisbon. The nearest public transport stop is the Algés train station, which is part of the Cascais Line.

Editions

Main article: NOS Alive line-ups

Edition	Year	Dates	Attendance	Headliners	Notable acts
1	2007	8–10 June	70,000[8]	Pearl Jam, The Smashing Pumpkins, Beastie Boys	Blasted Mechanism, Da Weasel, Linkin Park, Matisyahu, The Used, The White Stripes
2	2008	10–12 July		Rage Against The Machine, Bob Dylan, Neil Young	Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals, Buraka Som Sistema, CSS, Donavon Frankenreiter, Gogol Bordello, Gossip, The Hives, John Butler Trio, MGMT, The National, Spiritualized, Vampire Weekend, Within Temptation
3	2009	9–11 July		Metallica, The Prodigy, Dave Matthews Band	The Black Eyes Peas, Chris Cornell, Crystal Castles, Deadmau5, Eagles of Death Metal, Erol Alkan, Fischerspooner, Klaxons, The Kooks, Lamb of God, Lykke Li, Machine Head, Mastodon, Placebo, RAMP, Slipknot, TV on the Radio
4	2010	8–10 July	115,000[9]	Faith No More, Deftones, Pearl Jam	Alice in Chains, Biffy Clyro, Calvin Harris, Dropkick Murphys, Gogol Bordello, Gomez, Florence + The Machine, Jet, Kasabian, La Roux, LCD Soundsystem, Manic Street Preachers, Mão Morta, Moonspell, Simian Mobile Disco, Skunk Anansie, Steve Aoki, The xx
5	2011	6–9 July	160,000[10]	Coldplay, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Foo Fighters, Jane's Addiction	Anna Calvi, Atari Teenage Riot, Blondie, The Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 77, The Chemical Brothers, Digitalism, Dizzee Rascal, Fleet Foxes, Foals, Grinderman, Iggy and the Stooges, James Blake, Jimmy Eat World, Kaiser Chiefs, My Chemical Romance, Paramore, Patrick Wolf, Steve Aoki, Thievery Corporation, TV on the Radio
6	2012	13–15 July		The Stone Roses, The Cure, Radiohead	The Antlers, Awolnation, Buraka Som Sistema, Caribou, Danko Jones, Death in Vegas, LMFAO, Justice, The Kills, The Kooks, The Maccabees, Mazzy Star, Metronomy, Miles Kane, Mumford & Sons, Refused, Santigold, SBTRKT, Snow Patrol, Tricky, Warpaint
7	2013	12–14 July		Green Day, Depeche Mode, Kings of Leon	Alt-J, Band of Horses, Biffy Clyro, Crystal Castles, Crystal Fighters, Death From Above 1979, Disclosure, Django Django, Editors, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Japandroids, Jessie Ware, Jurassic 5, Icona Pop, Phoenix, Rhye, Steve Aoki, Tame Impala, Two Door Cinema Club, Vampire Weekend
8	2014	10–12 July		Arctic Monkeys, The Black Keys, The Libertines	The 1975, A-Trak, Au Revoir Simone, Bastille, Ben Howard, Booka Shade, Boys Noize, Buraka Som Sistema, Caribou, Chet Faker, Chromeo, Daughter, Diplo, Elbow, Foster The People, Imagine Dragons, Interpol, Jamie xx, Nicolas Jaar, Nina Kraviz, Kelis, The Lumineers, MGMT, Sam Smith, SBTRKT, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, The War on Drugs
9	2015	9–11 July	155,000[11]	Muse, The Prodigy, Disclosure	Alt-J, Azealia Banks, Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals, Chet Faker, Chromeo, Counting Crows, Django Django, Flume, Future Islands, James Bay, James Blake, Jessie Ware, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Kodaline, Metronomy, Mogwai, Mumford & Sons, Róisín Murphy, Sam Smith, Sheppard, The Ting Tings, Young Fathers
10	2016	7–9 July		The Chemical Brothers, Radiohead, Arcade Fire	The 1975, Band of Horses, Biffy Clyro, Calexico, Courtney Barnett, Father John Misty, Foals, Four Tet, Grimes, Hot Chip, John Grant, José González, M83, Pixies, Robert Plant & The Sensational Space Shifters, Ratatat, Soulwax, Tame Impala, Two Door Cinema Club, Wolf Alice, Years & Years
11	2017	6–8 July		The Weeknd, Foo Fighters, Depeche Mode	Alt-J, The Avalanches, Blossoms, Bonobo, Courteeners, Cage The Elephant, The Cult, Fleet Foxes, Floating Points, Glass Animals, Imagine Dragons, The Kills, Kodaline, Local Natives, Parov Stelar, Peaches, Phoenix, Rhye, Royal Blood, Ryan Adams, Savages, Spoon, Warpaint, Wild Beasts, The xx
12	2018	12–14 July	165,000[12]	Arctic Monkeys, Queens of the Stone Age, Pearl Jam	Alice in Chains, At The Drive-In, Bryan Ferry, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Chvrches, Eels, Franz Ferdinand, Friendly Fires, Future Islands, Jack White, Jain, Japandroids, Juana Molina, Kaleo, Khalid, The Kooks, The Last Internationale, MGMT, The National, Nine Inch Nails, Perfume Genius, Portugal. The Man, Rag'n'Bone Man, Real Estate, Sampha, Snow Patrol, Sophie, Two Door Cinema Club, Wolf Alice, Yo La Tengo
13	2019	11–13 July		The Cure, Vampire Weekend, The Smashing Pumpkins	Bon Iver, The Chemical Brothers, Cut Copy, The Gift, Grace Jones, Greta van Fleet, Gossip, Hot Chip, Idles, Jorja Smith, Marina, Mogwai, Ornatos Violeta, Perry Farrell's Kind Heaven Orchestra, Primal Scream, Robyn, Ry X, Sharon van Etten, Tash Sultana, Thom Yorke, Tom Walker, Xavier Rudd, Weezer
14	2022	6–9 July	210,000[7]	The Strokes, Florence + The Machine, Metallica, Imagine Dragons	AJ Tracey, Alt-J, Balthazar, Caribou, Celeste, Da Weasel, Don Broco, Fontaines D.C., Glass Animals, Haim, Jorja Smith, Jungle, Mallu Magalhães, Modest Mouse, Mother Mother, M.I.A., Parcels, Parov Stelar, Phoebe Bridgers, Royal Blood, St. Vincent, Stromae, Nicki Nicole, Two Door Cinema Club, The War on Drugs
15	2023	6–8 July	164,600[13]	Red Hot Chili Peppers, Arctic Monkeys, Sam Smith	Angel Olsen, The Black Keys, Boys Noize, City and Colour, The Driver Era, Girl in Red, Idles, Jacob Collier, King Princess, Lil Nas X, Lizzo, Machine Gun Kelly, Men I Trust, Morad, Omah Lay, Puscifer, Queens of the Stone Age, Rina Sawayama, Rüfüs Du Sol, Tash Sultana
16	2024	11–13 July		Arcade Fire, Dua Lipa, Pearl Jam
17	2025	10-12 July		Olivia Rodrigo[14], Future Island, Artemas[15]

Media coverage

NOS Alive has a media partnership with the Portuguese public broadcaster RTP and the radio station Rádio Comercial.^[16] RTP provides coverage of the festival, including transmission of selected concerts, in their streaming platform RTP Play.

See also

• Rock music portal

• List of rock festivals

References

1. "NOS Alive: "O nome do festival foi inspirado na música dos Pearl Jam"". NiT (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 3 July 2022.
2. "Optimus Alive vai ter novo palco dedicado à comédia". Jornal SOL (in Portuguese). Retrieved 3 July 2022.
3. "O fado chega ao NOS Alive". www.dn.pt (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 3 July 2022.
4. "NOS Alive festival 2020 officially postponed until next year". NME. 19 May 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
5. "Álvaro Covões: "dificilmente" vai haver NOS Alive este ano". NiT (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 3 July 2022.
6. "É oficial: NOS Alive foi adiado para 2022". NiT (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 3 July 2022.
7. Cipriano, Rita. "O sonho depois do pesadelo: edição de 2022 do NOS Alive reúne 210 mil pessoas em Algés". Observador (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 10 July 2022.
8. "Alive! 08 quer passar os cem mil espectadores". www.dn.pt (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 3 July 2022.
9. Lusa. "Mais de 115 mil pessoas passaram pelo quarto festival Optimus Alive". PÚBLICO (in Portuguese). Retrieved 3 July 2022.
10. "Optimus Alive!11: Passaram 160 mil pessoas por Algés - JPN". JPN - JornalismoPortoNet (in European Portuguese). 10 July 2011. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
11. "Nos Alive recebeu 155 mil pessoas em três dias". www.dn.pt (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 3 July 2022.
12. SAPO. "NOS Alive 2018: 165 mil pessoas passaram pelo Passeio Marítimo de Algés. Os bilhetes para a próxima edição já estão à venda". SAPO 24 (in Portuguese). Retrieved 3 July 2022.
13. Torres, Hugo (10 July 2023). "Fechado o ano de Lizzo e Arctic Monkeys, NOS Alive regressa de 11 a 13 de Julho de 2024". Time Out Lisboa (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 26 July 2023.
14. festtours (11 November 2024). "Olivia Rodrigo Set to Headline Top European Festivals in 2025 • Festivals and Tours: Your Guide to European Music Events". Festivals and Tours: Your Guide to European Music Events. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
15. "EXPLORE EUROPEAN SUMMER FESTIVALS • Festivals and Tours: Your Guide to European Music Events". Festivals and Tours: Your Guide to European Music Events. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
16. Televisão, A. "NOS Alive. RTP acompanha festival com mega operação" (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 3 July 2022.

External links

• Official website
• Everything is New official website

38.6958°N 9.2295°W / 38.6958; -9.2295