Porto < 30 Years Later: Todos Pelo Coliseu Returns to the Coliseu Porto Ageas

It was over 30 years ago that the great popular demonstration of August 4, 1995, on Rua Passos Manuel, in support of the Coliseu Porto Ageas to save the Porto concert hall, took place. Yesterday, October 31st, Sérgio Godinho, Pedro Abrunhosa, Óscar Branco, GNR, BAN, António Pinho Vargas, the Orfeão Universitário do Porto, and Amarguinhas returned to the stage they helped defend.

This was a night that aimed to celebrate culture and honour the struggle of all those who united, starring in one of the most remarkable and defining episodes in the modern history of Porto.

Pedro Abrunhosa, BAN, GNR, and António Pinho Vargas, fundamental names in the history of Portuguese music, all with Porto as their birthplace, could not be absent, just as they were three decades ago. Sérgio Godinho, who in 1995 entered the stage juggling to tell the audience that his first time at the Coliseu was as a child to see the circus, this time entered accompanied by pianist Filipe Raposo. The Amarguinhas made a double return – to the Coliseu and to live performances – a very special return after 25 years without performing together.

The University Choir of Porto opened this special night. Óscar Branco humorously recalled some of the episodes experienced during the demonstration and the 1995 show, which once again featured José Carlos Tinoco and Júlio Magalhães as presenters.

In 1995, the news that the Coliseu had been sold to the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God came as a bombshell. Thousands of people, from artists and politicians to city personalities and even ordinary people who had been at the Coliseu’s inauguration in 1941, filled Rua de Passos Manuel in defence of their concert hall.

The “Todos Pelo Coliseu” concert took place shortly after, on September 7, 1995, and symbolises the starting point for fundraising aimed at purchasing the building and maintaining it as a cultural space. This laid the foundation for the formation of the Friends of the Coliseum of Porto Association, which, 30 years later, continues to ensure that this tangible and intangible heritage serves the City, the Region, and the Country.

Este concerto insere-se num programa vasto de iniciativas que celebram os 30 anos da AACP, de onde se destacam uma conferência e o lançamento de um livro sobre tudo o que aconteceu no verão de 1995.

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