Independent guide · not affiliated with the venue or performers · book with GetYourGuide · not wheelchair accessible · this show moved from São Bento station
Trindade · Porto
A singer and guitarists fill the high-ceilinged Salão Nobre of the Ordem da Trindade with songs of saudade.
Guests love the singer's voice in that grand, intimate room, and choosing their own glass of port.
Fado in Porto, and how it differs from Lisbon
The short answer. In concerts and small fado venues, much as in Lisbon. Fado is one song form with two named traditions, Lisbon's and Coimbra's, and Wikipedia describes Lisbon's as the better known. Women and men both sing in the Lisbon tradition with the Portuguese guitar answering the voice, while Coimbra fado is tied to the university and traditionally the preserve of male singers. The Noble Hall concert near Avenida dos Aliados is an hour with a singer, guitarists and a glass of port.
A one-hour fado concert in the Noble Hall (Salão Nobre) of the Ordem da Trindade, with a professional singer and guitarists. Between songs the singer explains fado and its instruments. One glass of port is included, chosen from four styles. Seating is limited, and the host speaks Portuguese, English, Spanish and French.
No meal is part of the ticket, so this is not a dinner show, and it is not a fado house with a menu and a late finish. It is not held at São Bento railway station any more, and wheelchair users cannot use it.
The show moved to the Noble Hall after two years at São Bento station, but the web address of the booking page and some older reviews still say São Bento. The meeting point is Praça da Trindade 182. No alcohol or drugs may be brought in.
The hour in four facts
What fills the room
Fado is built from a few parts, and an hour in the Noble Hall puts you close to all of them. This is the order in which they tend to meet your ear.
UNESCO describes one voice at a time, a woman's or a man's. The voice carries the poem, and the guitars are there to serve it.
Wikipedia describes the Portuguese guitar as having twelve metal strings in six doubled courses, and names it the instrument fado is most identified with. Its bright, ringing sound is the one people recognise first.
Alongside the Portuguese guitar sits the viola, an acoustic guitar. Wikipedia says both fado styles are accompanied by the pair.
Fado's mournful colour is loosely captured by saudade, which Wikipedia glosses as longing and a feeling of permanent loss. The word fado itself is often glossed as destiny or fate.
Wikipedia notes that fado singers use rubato, holding a note at the end of a phrase for dramatic effect. It is the moment when a room tends to go very still.
On this ticket the singer explains fado and its instruments between the songs, so no prior knowledge of the tradition is needed.
These are the parts of fado, not a setlist. The programme is the singer's choice and varies by night.
Three ways to hear fado in Porto
From booking to the last glass
The evening in five steps, from the calendar to the street afterwards. Your confirmation message has the final word on the day.
The calendar marks the dates that still have seats, and seating is limited. A cancellation made 24 hours or more ahead is refunded in full, and you may also hold a date now and pay later.
The meeting point is Praça da Trindade 182, at the Ordem da Trindade. Do not go to São Bento station: the show left it for this hall.
The Noble Hall is a high-ceilinged room with seating that is limited in number. No alcohol or drugs may be brought in.
A singer and guitarists perform, and the singer explains fado and its instruments between the songs. Your glass of port is one of four styles: dry white, white, rosé or ruby.
Praça da Trindade sits behind City Hall at the top of Avenida dos Aliados. No lunch or dinner comes with the ticket, so plan a table nearby for afterwards.
What the ticket is
Seven points to have clear in your head before you commit to a date.
Fado, the church and the avenue
A fado trio in a small hall, a Coimbra fado trio in dark capes, the Trindade church outside and inside, the avenue below it and a decanter of port. None of these photographs was taken in the Noble Hall.
Fado, port and a second evening in Porto
The first card is the Noble Hall concert this site covers. The second is a small fado house near the river, the third a fado concert in a mansion, and the last a tasting among the port cellars of Gaia.
A one-hour concert by a singer and guitarists in the Salão Nobre of the Ordem da Trindade, with one glass of port from four styles.
A one-hour fado show with port wine near the river, with two singers and two guitarists and both Lisbon and Coimbra fado.
A one-hour fado concert with port wine in one of Porto's finest houses, a different room from the Noble Hall.
A visit and tasting at a port lodge in Vila Nova de Gaia, facing Porto over the Douro, for the day before or after the music.
More things to book in Porto
Getting there and what to know
The meeting point is Praça da Trindade 182, in Porto's centre. Wikipedia places the Igreja da Trindade on Praça da Trindade, behind City Hall, and Trindade metro station lies near City Hall.
The show spent two years at São Bento railway station before it moved to the Noble Hall. The booking page's web address still says São Bento, and some reviews describe the station. Your meeting point is Praça da Trindade.
Trindade metro station shares the square's name. Check the metro's own planner for the day you travel.
Avenida dos Aliados runs from Praça da Liberdade to the square where City Hall stands, and has Aliados metro station roughly halfway along.
This ticket cannot take wheelchair users. If anyone in your group needs level access, choose another evening.
No meal comes with the ticket, and the hour is short. Reserve a table in the Baixa for after the concert and keep the evening unhurried.
More reading
FAQ
At concerts and in small fado venues, such as the Noble Hall near Avenida dos Aliados that this site covers. UNESCO describes fado as staged in concert settings and in small fado houses. The booking calendar shows which dates have seats.
The sources name two traditions, Lisbon's and Coimbra's, and do not describe a separate Porto style. Women and men both sing in the Lisbon tradition. Coimbra fado is tied to the university and traditionally the preserve of male singers. A Porto concert belongs to the same song form.
A one-hour fado concert with a singer and guitarists in the Salão Nobre of the Ordem da Trindade. The singer explains fado and its instruments between songs, and one glass of port is included. Seating is limited.
Yes. It spent two years at São Bento railway station and then moved to the Noble Hall. The booking page's web address and some older reviews still mention São Bento. Your meeting point is Praça da Trindade 182.
One glass is included, in one of four styles: dry white, white, rosé or ruby. You pick when you are served. The Gaia cellars card on this page is the place to taste more styles.
No. Lunch and dinner sit outside the ticket, so book a table nearby if you would like a meal around the music.
No. The booking marks it as unsuitable for wheelchair users. If you need level access, look at another venue's booking page before you choose.
Portuguese, English, Spanish and French. The songs are in Portuguese, and the singer explains fado and its instruments between them.
The calendar displays each price in the currency you pick, with taxes already counted.