Montras
The Montras Arts and Crafts Community Festival takes place every August in the village of São Luís in Odemira, Portugal. During the event, dozens of artists and artisans present a wide range of art and cultural projects on the streets and in the windows (montras) of shops, restaurants and residencies in the village.
There have been six editions of the Festival so far. The Montras have started as an initiative of Transicaõ São Luís and quickly grew to become a popular annual arts and crafts summer festival, lasting for up to four weeks, and has been embraced by the whole community in the village and beyond.
At the Montras, we have witnessed beautiful examples of fine arts, visual arts, documentary film, music, poetry, performances, workshops, handicrafts, and a display of local products. For four weeks, the village shops' windows and public spaces gain new life, becoming exhibition spaces that reveal, to locals and visitors, the creative pulse of São Luís.
Throughout the years, there has been a great number of people participating, creating and connecting through the Montras.
The Festival has attracted visitors to the village in the summer, has contributed to the local economy and village visibility, as well as to the promotion of the local artists and artisans.