About

Jardins Abertos festival began as a strategic response to a desire to promote strong, positive connections with nature, bringing sustainability into the urban context. This desire quickly became collective and, like a seed sown in the ground, the festival soon put down roots and began to grow. Over various editions we opened dozens of gardens around the city of Lisbon, developing guided visits, workshops and many other activities bringing together art, botany and sustainability.

The first edition was devised and organised by Tomás Tojo, Festival Director to this day, and Rosana Ribeiro, with the help of only five volunteers. Working on an entirely pro bono basis, this early team gave their time to put together a simple proposal for an entirely unprecedented event in Lisbon, with the support of Lisbon City Council and Misericórdia Parish Council: a guided walk through the hills of Lisbon, led by volunteers, which took in 10 individual gardens.

From the first edition when 80 people attended, by 2024 the festival had grown to welcome 28,000 people across different editions. The audience expands with each edition, affirming the festival’s leading position in the social movement, promoting greater environmental awareness and pointing the way to a more responsible future.