What is Jardins Abertos?

Jardins Abertos is Lisbon’s biannual gardens festival.

With a goal of promoting sustainability in urban centers, Lisbon’s Open Gardens festival aims to bring the public into the city’s green spaces. Many of these gardens are typically closed to the public or have entrance fees, but during Jardins Abertos, all are free!

They hold dozens of different workshops, family fun events, guided tours, and even an outdoor market throughout the city, each offering a new way to connect with nature.

And again, all of the events are 100% free!

Last fall, I tried to go to the jam-making workshop at the Palácio de Frontera. I say tried because tickets were first-come-first-serve, and the person in front of me got the last ticket. 

If an event has a small capacity, I highly recommend getting there around 30 minutes early so you don’t end up like me. 

When is the Festival? 

Jardins Abertos is held twice a year – once in spring and once in autumn. 

For spring 2024, there will be events every Saturday and Sunday in May.

Where Are the Events? 

Events are held in green spaces all across the city, like Estufa Fria, Estrela Gardens, and Monsanto Forest Park. 

This year, they are highlighting some of the city’s “hidden” gardens, offering guided tours of the Macau Scientific and Cultural Centre’s Dragon Garden, Casa Mir Garden (which is not usually open to the public), and the Tapada da Ajuda Botanical Garden. 

Some Festival Highlights

• Fragrance Workshop – using flowers from the Palacio de Frontera gardens, participants can learn to make their own perfumes.
• Painting Workshop in the Garden – paint gardens while in the gardens. 
• Plants For Making Tea- The Blind Test! – a family-friendly event where visitors will have blind taste tests of teas made from the Olivais Teaching Farm’s herb garden. You’ll even get to go home with your own special blend. 
• The Green Market – a sustainability-themed outdoor market full of local artists, creators, and garden enthusiasts.
• Somatic Poetry Workshop – create poetry while you ‘touch, feel, watch and poetically engage’ with the greenery in Estufa Fria, the largest greenhouse in Lisbon.

See the Jardins Abertos full events calendar here.