Christmas is not over in Obidos. That medieval village located about one hour north of Lisbon has been transformed into a Christmas theme park this holiday season called “Obidos Vila Natal” (“Obidos the Christmas Village”).  The castle has been given an extra fairytale look, fake snow has been added (it never snows in this part of Portugal), and there are special holiday-themed shows every night. Throughout the village you will find the theme of the Nutcracker, and kids will also be able to visit Santa Claus’ house. In between, be sure to take a look at over 100 nativity scenes made with different materials in different countries, from Poland to the former Portuguese colony Angola.

These special celebrations take place until January 4th, and will be a fun family destination if you’re in Lisbon for the holidays.

Celebrating Midnight in Comercio Square
Thousands of people choose to be in Lisbon’s largest square at midnight, when the new year is welcomed in a festive atmosphere. That’s where you’ll be able to see the city’s fireworks show more closely, with the square and the river being flooded with a variety of colors and lights.

A Michelin-Star Welcome to 2009
198 euros (per person and without drinks) gets you a Michelin-star ending to 2008 and start of 2009. Overlook Lisbon from Eleven, the restaurant standing at the top of Edward VII Park.  If you get the right table, its special menu (at that special price) will also get you views of the fireworks at midnight taking place down by the river. On the menu you’ll have both meat and fish courses and a varied selection of desserts.

Special Dinner by the Tagus
A cheaper but equally worthy alternative to Eleven is moving closer to the river and going for Virgula’s special New Year’s menu. It’s only 95 euros (without wine) and includes a special selection of two fish or meat dishes, ending with a chocolate pyramid for dessert.

Saying Good-Bye and Welcoming 2009
Last August, GoLisbon told you that the lounge-bar-restaurant-club Kubo was the place to be in the summer. Turns out it stayed open for the fall and it will only be closing its doors until the summer of 2009 on New Year’s Day. It made a few changes in its autumn season, and was no longer an open-air space, although it did it with glass, so the Tagus views are still there. The best way to guarantee a spot when midnight arrives is to go for dinner after 7PM and get ready for the New Year’s cheers which start at 10.

Where the Party is Always at
If you’ve been reading GoLisbon (and its blog), you already know that Lux is Lisbon’s party house, and even after a decade since it opened, it still is the club with the most happening New Year’s celebrations. Do note that it’s “New Year’s,” and not “New Years’s Eve,” as it opens its doors when it’s already 2009, at 1 in the morning.

An Alternative New Year’s Party
Lisbon’s Lesboa parties originally had the city’s lesbian community in mind when they first took place, but they’re now special events (taking place every couple of months or so) for every lifestyle and gender. Those looking for a more casual and cheaper (45 euros) alternative to the traditional New Year’s Eve parties, this is the one to choose, with an open bar (champagne will be served at midnight) and city views from its hilltop location (Tapada da Ajuda). DJ Ivan Pica (ranked in a magazine as Spain’s #1 house music DJ) and Miss Jools (from Berlin) will mix the music, and those staying until the morning will have breakfast available (hot chocolate and cake). See the Lesboa website for more.

It’s now December and Christmas is just around the corner. The ornamented trees are going up, the streets are decorated with lights, and you’re making your Christmas shopping list. Lisbon has gotten ready for all of that, and has unveiled a new identity for its most cosmopolitan neighborhood. Called “Chiado – Lisbon Trend Mark”, this new “brand” for the cultural and commercial heart of the city has placed banners around the Chiado neighborhood identifying it as the place for the most international and highest-quality shops for your shopping needs. There are the Hermés and Hugo Boss shops that most can’t afford, but also more affordable labels such as Diesel and H&M. For memorable quality Portuguese gifts there are the Vista Alegre, A Vida Portuguesa, or Joalheria do Carmo shops.

To make sure customers are not tempted to go to the city’s shopping malls instead, most of the area’s shops are going to stay open until 8PM on weekdays and until 11PM on Saturdays. This has proven to be a successful decision, judging by the recent long lines at the Nespresso shop late in the evening or all the browsing for books at the historical Bertrand bookshop as late as 10PM. The special Christmas lights and decorations in the neighborhood add to the Christmas spirit, and are thankfully more tasteful than the ugly commercially-sponsored decorations in Rossio or Comercio squares this year (try to overlook them if you’re in Lisbon this holiday season).

But because Christmas is not just about shopping, Chiado’s São Carlos Theater will present special performances of “The Nutcracker” . They take place on December 5, 6, and 11th at 9PM and on the 7h and 13th at 4PM.

Although we “finally” got plenty of rain here in Lisbon this weekend, it looks like another joyous holiday season in the city, starting with the inauguration of Europe’s largest Christmas tree, and ending with Chiado’s new “trend mark.”

Europe’s largest Christmas tree stood for the first time in Lisbon in 2004, and returned in the following years to the very same spot in the city’s Comercio Square (you can see a video of the 2006 tree here). Last year it left the Portuguese capital and was instead planted in the country’s second city, Porto.

In 2008 it returns to Lisbon although not in the same square that it called home for two years. This time it will stand on Edward VII Park overlooking the city all the way down to the river. It will not be as tall (last time it measured 76 meters), reaching a height of “only” 44 meters due to the fact that the top of the park is much higher than its previous low riverfront location and it could interfere with the airplanes passing by on their way to the city’s airport. However, even with this year’s scaled-down version, Portugal will continue to have the tallest Christmas tree in Europe for one more year.

It will be sponsored by different companies for a total investment that can reach between one and two million euros, with the lights turning on on November 22nd. It will brighten the holiday season until January, through which special musical events for the whole family will take place around the tree.

The 8th edition of Lisbon’s Contemporary Art Fair will take place between the 19th and 24th of November in the FIL building located in the Parque das Nações district.

Around 70 galleries participate in the event (45 from Portugal, 25 from elsewhere), and there’s a special space for the presentation of ten projects by different artists and galleries.

A number of activities related to the event will happen simultaneously, including debates, a Collectors’ Club, and ARTE KIDS, hoping to attract a diverse group of visitors.

If you’re a fan of modern art and will be in Lisbon on those dates, pass by the fair which is open from 4 to 11PM. If you can’t make it to Lisbon on those days but still would like to admire modern and contemporary art when you’re in town, a visit to the Berardo Museum more than fulfils that need, as it is one of the city’s major cultural attractions.

Starting this Thursday, October 9th, the best of Lisbon fashion will be presented down the runway in Cascais’ citadel. It’s the 31st Lisbon Fashion Week, showing Portugal’s designers’ Spring-Summer collections for 2009 until October 12th.

This is a by-invitation-only event, so even if you’re in Lisbon this week, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll make it there, although you can always see some of the highlights later on Fashion TV. So what to do if you’re interested in fashion and want to see some of Lisbon’s creations?

The epicenter of Lisbon fashion is the Chiado district, extending into Bairro Alto next door. You may visit the boutiques of Ana Salazar and Fatima Lopes, the two most international Portuguese designers, or check out the new talent receiving all the latest buzz.

A name you should not miss is Storytailors, a team of two designers that opened up their space in Chiado that was described by the New York Times as “certainly the most brilliantly strange new store to set up in Lisbon.” Their inspirations are fairytales and fantastic stories, giving their creations a very original look that has even caught the attention of the fashion chameleon Madonna.

Also in Chiado is the Alves/Golçalves boutique, with both men’s and womenswear known for their classic-chic looks, while up the hill in the same neighborhood is the shop of Jose Antonio Tenente, who although based in Cascais has his shop in Lisbon.

Obviously these are not the only names in Lisbon fashion, but they’re the ones you should not miss. Other designers to investigate include Aleksandar Protich (born in Belgrade but Lisbon-based), Dino Alves, and Miguel Vieira.

And the last film festival of the year is… DocLisboa - The International Documentary Film Festival. Closing out the season of film festivals in Lisbon, the 6th edition of DocLisboa will take place from the 16th to the 26th of October at São Jorge Cinema, Cinema Londres, and Culturgest. A total of 150 films will be screened at those three spaces, showing the realities of different parts of the world and opening up discussion about current topics.

There will be awards for the best long documentary film, best short documentary film, and a prize to the director with the best first documentary film, an incentive to continue going forward with a genre that has captured more audiences every year.

Some of the films to be shown have already been awarded major prizes, such as “Entre Les Murs”, by Laurent Cantet and Steve McQueen’s “Hunger” at the Cannes Film Festival.

Each screening at DocLisboa will cost €3.50 and you may check the entire line up at the official website www.doclisboa.org.

Lisbon’s streets and monuments are floodlit every night in a golden yellow tone, but next month it will be bathed in a number of other colors. It’s part of the Luzboa festival, an event that takes place every two years, when light and public art turn Lisbon into an open gallery of urban light design and contemporary art.

This year a giant harp with laser beams as strings will be placed in Comercio Square from November 8th to January 11th, and will certainly provide some extra magic during the holiday season. Sounds and rhythms will be created using hands or objects, mixing visual art with sound.

Other displays will be seen in the neighborhoods of Alfama, Baixa, and Bica, for a total of 40 different examples of festive lights by artists from Portugal and other European countries.

This street project invites people to go out at night and look at their city literally under a different light, and admire works of art that may only be properly appreciated outside and at night. Other works that don’t necessarily need that setting will be exhibited in the Berardo Museum.

The environmentally friendly LED lights will be turned on at dusk and switched off at midnight, with some extra hours on weekends and national holidays.

Just when you thought we couldn’t possibly tell you about another film festival coming to Lisbon (GoLisbon has told you about the Digital Film Festival, the Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, and the Horror Film Festival), here comes another one celebrating French cinema! It starts tomorrow, October 2nd, and will screen the best of the latest French films until the 12th in Lisbon, and until the 2nd of November in other Portuguese cities (in Coimbra from the 13th to 18th of October, Porto from the 21st to the 26th, and Faro from the 29th of October to the 2nd of November).

This is a non-competitive showing of films produced (or co-produced in France), and will include 25 premieres in the 45 features screened. They’re shown in French with Portuguese subtitles at São Jorge Cinema in Avenida da Liberdade and at Cinemateca, the city’s film museum not too far away.
A number of France’s film stars will come to Lisbon for the event, which for nine years has drawn thousands to see the original stories created in the land of Méliès.

A pink mansion up a street from Avenida da Liberdade is the home of Cinemateca, Portugal’s Film Museum, screening art-house and contemporary films six days a week. Nineteenth century camera equipment is displayed around a grand staircase leading to an art nouveau courtyard, where you can discuss the film you just saw or go to the café next to it.

Cinemateca is celebrating its 50th anniversary on September 29th, and since this year will also be the 100th birthday of Portugal’s most prominent film director Manoel de Oliveira, it will screen his entire work in October. De Oliveira has the record of being the world’s oldest active filmmaker, having made movie magic since the times when films were still silent. He’s received multiple honors and prizes at film festivals (in Cannes he received the Jury Prize), and his latest film will be opening internationally later this year. It will be “Columbus - The Enigma” in which the origins of the famous explorer are traced to a small town in Portugal.

De Oliveira is seen as a European master, having also worked outside Portugal and with international stars such as John Malkovich and Catherine Deneuve. His films are often described as theatrical and many have historical or philosophical themes. His 100th birthday will be on December 11th.
On October 24th, Cinemateca will continue with its 50th anniversary celebration by screening the films of John Carpenter.