Santar Music Series debuts in September with music, wine and heritage in the village of Santar

25/08/2025From 12 to 14 September 2025, the historic village of Santar, in Nelas, will host the first edition of the Santar Music Series, a festival that combines classical music, wine, historic gardens and heritage in a unique setting in the heart of the Dão region.

The Santar Music Series arrives in 2025 as a new festival that promises to mark the Portuguese cultural calendar. Held between 12 and 14 September, the event will take place in the village of Santar, in the municipality of Nelas, and offers a complete sensory experience where music, nature, heritage and the region’s wines meet. The main stage will be the Valverde Santar Hotel & Spa, part of the ‘Santar Vila Jardim’ project and surrounded by vineyards designed by landscape architect Fernando Caruncho.
Under the artistic direction of pianist Vasco Dantas, the programme includes three days of open-air concerts, highlighting the fusion between tradition and innovation. The festival opens with the Bach Mirrors show, featuring pianist Thomas Enhco and percussionist Vassilena Serafimova in an unusual dialogue between piano and marimba. On Saturday, the Echos e Fusões programme brings together Leticia Moreno, João Barradas and Joel Cardoso, with interpretations that cross fado, Bach, Schubert and Schumann in new formations for accordion, clarinet and violin. Saturday morning will also see the participation of the Santar Philharmonic Band, directed by conductor Rui Nunes.
The event closes on Sunday 14th at 5pm with the concert Dialogue of Soloists, which brings together acclaimed trumpeter Sergei Nakariakov and pianist Vasco Dantas, accompanied by the Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra under the baton of Pedro Neves.
Each concert will be followed by a cocktail with a tasting of Dão wines, promoting informal socialising between the artists and the audience. The post-concert events will take place in emblematic locations such as the gardens of the Valverde Santar Hotel & Spa (Friday), the Casa de Santar (Saturday) and the Paço dos Cunhas (Sunday).

Tickets are available from Ticketline, priced at 55 euros per day or 150 euros for a full pass. Ten per cent of the ticket revenue will be donated to Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Santar and the Ajuda de Berço Association, reinforcing the charity aspect of the event.
Organised by Music Series Festivals, the Santar Music Series is more than just a festival – it’s a celebration of art, memory and the territory, which aims to establish itself as a new benchmark on the Portuguese cultural scene.