Politicians, journalists and many local celebrities meet up in ‘Anos 60′ to discuss politics, dine and enjoy the live Brazilian and Portuguese music. Mariza, the internationally well-known fado singer started her career in Mouraria where she grew up and performed many times in ‘ANOS 60′.

Che Guevara . ‘Anos 60′ means ‘the sixties’. The name was chosen because of the rough political times in the sixties in Portugal, when the Portuguese people suffered under the corrupt dictator António de Oliveira Salazar, president of the Council of Ministers of Portugal for 36 years, from 1932 to 1968, and founder of the Estado Novo (New Regime). On April 25, 1974, the Estado Novo finally fell with the Carnation Revolution.

ANOS 60 owner Fernando Casanova was, as a journalist, part of the intellectual opposition and in his bar still many discussion about the era of the revolution take place. Fernando contributed for 2 years to the political newspaper “Aqui” which was published during the period of the revolution. The ‘Club de Jornalistas’ in Lapa, which now has 700 members, has a strong connection to the bar.

The clock in ‘ANOS 60′ stands still at 04:10. Stories go round that this was the time that the Carnation Revolution started… But according to Fernando, it has another reason. It has to do with the official closing time: 04:00. In the weekends the bar usually closes later. After dancing the night away you walk out onto the street at 07:00, but the clock still indicates 04:10!

In the month of June, festivities take place all over Portugal to celebrate the three Saints – Santo António, São João and São Pedro. The traditional neighborhoods Mouraria and Alfama are decorated in many colours and all the people are dancing in the streets and having barbeques, mostly sardinhas (sardines).

ANOS 60 participates in the festivities: every Tuesday in June there is dancing and live music at Largo do Terreirinho and ‘ANOS 60′ serves dinner outside.

Menu (20 euro)
Sopa ou entrada (soup or starters)
Prato de peixe ou carne (dish with fish or meat)
Sobremesa (dessert)

ANOS 60
Listen to exclusively Portuguese music from the 60s and 70s.
Largo do Terreirinho 21, 1170 Lisbon. Tel. 21887 3444
Opening times: 21:30h – 04:00h. Smoking is permitted.
The door is always closed, but that doesn’t mean the bar is closed. You have to ring the doorbell, like in many other Portuguese places. The reason for the closed doors is that the owners want to welcome you personally. Many foreigners are unaware of this and miss out on a great experience!.

More about this area…

Share on Facebook

Since the eighties Bairro Alto has become ‘the place to be’ when it comes to nightlife. When the locals go out and say they go ‘ao Bairro’ (’to the neighbourhood’) they can only mean Bairro Alto. Don’t expect big clubs though, you will find these in other parts of the city.

Bairro Alto was well known as the center of journalism in Portugal, all the main newspapers had their offices in the neighbourhood. And journalists need bars to get inspiration, and well, one thing let to another. The neigbourhood now attracts people from all walks of life even with the publishers all long and gone.

The Portugese tend to go out very late. They’ll leave the house at about midnight and start the night of easy with a drink in one of the bars, and when it’s warm out they prefer the streets. In summertime it is hard to move in Bairro Alto, all the little streets are crowded with people. The first days you will think a local holiday is being celebrated, but it’s just normal summer madness. Most places in Bairro Alto close at 02:00. For people heading for the nightlife, Bairro Alto is a pleasant warming-up.

Picture: Rene van Gijn

Gay bars

Now that you know something about Bairro Alto it’s time to get down to business: Where can you go and meet new friends? The Portuguese are not so open about their sexual preferences and the few people that are ‘out’ you’ll probably find in Bairro Alto. But don’t worry, the neighbourhood is very famous across the globe and you are sure to meet many nice guys when you hit the streets.

Bairro Alto has about 50 different bars and small clubs and the majority of the places is not gay, but most of them are ‘gay-friendly’. Cruising however is not recommended. Gay Clubs and Parties in Lisbon .

Beach 19, Portugal’s most famous and popular gay beach & how to get there

Portas Largas

The best place to start of is Portas Largas as it opens early (at about five already), it’s in the heart of Bairro Alto on Rua da Atalaia. The bar is very international and you’ll most likely be served by some cute muscly Brazilian guys that already work there for years. The owner of Portas Largas has his own hotel round the corner of the bar ‘Anjo Azul’ where you will be very welcome as well.

In Portas Largas you can drink caipirinha’s (they’re quite good) and jars of Sangria. From early on the place attracts an international crowd.

Fragil

This is a small but very cool club facing the entrance of Portas Largas. Famous for it’s enormous influence on Portugese club life and music. Many famous Dj’s have played here.

The audience is 90% gay on most nights, the door policy is friendly but not everybody is allowed in.

Share on Facebook

After his succes with the Bairro Alto club Fragil, Manuel Reis used his experiences in creating this trendy hotspot together with associate John Malkovitch (yes, you are right, the actor). This club is certainly still one of the top clubs in town, but the glory days were the opening year 1999 up until about 5 years ago (I’m sorry, but we have to be honest). Still worth a visit though, not in the last place for the top musical attractions you will find here. The view from the gigantic balcony also remains unbeatable.

The place is divided in three floors. On ground floor you will find the club area, a rectangle and dark room with two bars and a stage. First floor is a bar and lounge, with a smaller open space in the middle for dancing. But go to the balcony first and take your time to enjoy the riverview. The decoration of the bar/ lounge changes at least every half year (my personal favourite was the era that the whol place was filled with enourmous beenbags and ‘pouffes’). The second floor is a roofterrace, only open in summer.

Lux fragil open it’s doors for clubbers usually around midnight, but the best time to arrive is from 3.00 till 5.00. As most bars in Bairro Alto close around 2:00 am, all barowners, DJ’s and nightflies choose where to go. Doors close at 5:00. But the club stays open till about 08:00 or 09:00.
There’s many concerts in Lux as well, starting earlier. For an agenda of the clubnights and the concerts visit the luxfragil website.

Resident DJ’s

All major DJ’s from Europe play in Lux, but there are a few Portuguese stars that made their way to the top behind the desks in Lux fragil.

Probably the most famous of them all is DJ Vibe. Check out some of his mixes on his myspace page. Or take a look at his website. He’s one of the residents in Lux and of course a well-known producer. I found a good biography for you as well.

Rui Vargas is no doubt one of the Lux fragil dinosaurs. You can see him in Lux almost every week.

Share on Facebook