After last year’s brief yet captivating stop in Covilhã, Portugal, I’m heading back to WOOL Festival—this time for the whole experience. I’ll be there throughout the festival week, watching murals come to life day by day, joining guided walks and talks, attending live concerts and film screenings, and even popping up on the festival’s social media channels to share impressions, conversations, and scenes from the field.
WOOL Festival 2025 will take place from 21 to 29 June, marking its 12th edition. Over more than a decade, WOOL has shaped a distinctive voice within the European street art landscape—not only through impressive murals, but through a grounded, thoughtful engagement with territory.
Over the years, WOOL has grown into something much deeper than a street art festival. It’s a long-term cultural project that continues to ask what (street) art can do in a place like Covilhã—a mid-sized mountain city, shaped by its textile heritage and demographic shifts, with layers of history embedded in each slope and alley.
Thanks to the efforts of founders Lara, Pedro, and Elizabet, who excel at conveying the area’s identity to invited artists, every mural in Covilhã tells a story about the city—its history, culture, people, and landscape. This is significant for visitors, who gain insights about the city through its murals, and for residents, who see their sense of identity and pride reflected in the public art.
From my article on wool 2024
A Festival That Keeps the Conversation Open
Founded in 2011, WOOL was Portugal’s first street art festival. Since then, it has become a reference point not only for mural production but for its consistent focus on process, community, and continuity. It doesn’t just arrive for a week and disappear. Many of the artists invited in previous years have maintained strong ties with the city, and the archive of works produced during the past 11 editions is still visible throughout Covilhã—a growing, evolving trail of interventions, each tied to a specific context.
The community plays an integral role in the festival, participating in various activities from helping artists brainstorm themes with local knowledge to engaging in events during the festival days. This involvement has fostered a strong sense of identity and belonging among residents, who have embraced the murals as representations of their cultural legacy, often guiding visitors or sharing anecdotes.
from my article on wool 2024
WOOL has always set itself apart by maintaining a clear curatorial direction and an interest in the local scale. It’s not a festival of spectacles, but of careful choices. Each edition introduces new works while reactivating past ones, prompting new readings of the city’s built environment, its demographics, and its collective memory.
This year’s edition will again combine mural production with a multidisciplinary program that expands the festival’s reach into other art forms, media, and moments of encounter. Over nine days, artists will be working on their pieces while a series of events unfold across the city.
WOOL 2025 Line-Up
The 2025 edition features five mural interventions by a compelling mix of artists:
- Amparito (ES)
- Boa Mistura (ES)
- Stelios Pupet (GR)
- Lidia Cao (ES)
- Ligia Fernandes (PT)
All murals will be painted across the eight days of the festival, allowing visitors to see the works in progress and engage directly with the artists. There will also be guided tours around Covilhã’s impressive collection of public art, created during previous editions of WOOL and through community art programs.
Highlights from the 2025 Program
WOOL 2025 is much more than murals. Here’s what else is happening throughout the week:
Walking Tours:
- June 22nd, 17:30
- June 27th, 17:30
- June 29th, 17:30
Workshops, on June 28th:
- Artistas de Rua – Valice Atelier _ 16h00 > 17h00
- Azulejo Experimental – Marta Amaro _ 19h00 > 20h00
- Cianotipia – Luana Lobato _ 15h00 > 17h00 + 17h00 > 19h00
- Punch Needle – Oficina da Rita _ 15h00 > 17h00
- Rodilhas – Adufeiras da Casa do Povo do Paul _ 15h00 > 16h30 + 17h30 > 19h00
- Tatuagem – Coé Tattoo _ 17h00 > 18h30 + 19h00 > 20h30
Music, on June 28th:
- Bia Maria & Coro Viés – Vozes em Intervenção _ 18h30
- “Contos e Lenga Lendas”, Gil Dionísio _ 17h00
- Fanfarra 4XX _ 16h00 > 18h00
- Jam Session by CISMA _ 15h00 > 19h00
- Tear Sonoro _ 15h00 > 20h00
- DJs Estúdios CISMA _ 19h00 > 24h00
Talk, on June 28th:
- Portugal Manual – gravação Temporada WOOL 2025, epis. 1 _ 16h00 > 17h00
Masterclass, on June 28th:
- “Boas e Más Maneiras”, Hugo Makarov _ 18h00 > 19h00
Artistic Interventions, on June 28th:
- “Desenhos Efémeros”, António Jorge Gonçalves _ 21h30
- “Cardápio Poético”, Alice Neto de Sousa _ 16h30 > 19h30
- “Todos somos o outro”, A Avó Veio Trabalhar _ 15h00 > 20h00
- “Memurial: efémero mural”, Umbra _ 15h00 > 24h00
WOOL is a project curated by Lara Seixo Rodrigues and produced by Mistaker Maker, whose work consistently prioritises dialogue between contemporary creation and local realities. This 12th edition stays true to that approach, once again expanding the program to include multiple formats of engagement, from live music and cinema to debates, workshops, and open-air gatherings.
I’ll be in Covilhã for the entire week this year—walking alongside the festival, following the progress of the murals, and tuning into the conversations unfolding on and off the streets. I’ll be posting regular updates on my Instagram and on WOOL’s own channels, where I’ll be sharing behind-the-scenes glimpses, in-progress shots, and reflections from the field. After the festival, there’ll be a full video recap on YouTube, and I’ll dive deeper into the new artworks and their stories in my monthly newsletter.
Stay tuned—and see you in Covilhã!
