miolo festival of
literature
and thought

Santa Maria da Feira has made the ability to challenge itself a defining part of its history. A place with strong roots that looks ahead while continuing to reflect on the path it chooses.

Although we have greater access to information today, the world has not become easier to understand. Technology is changing the way we communicate and work, societies are becoming more complex, and democracies are facing new challenges. We rarely have all the answers. And we do not always ask the right questions.

Miolo was born from this need to look beneath the surface of the major issues of our time, to bring different perspectives into conversation and create space for questions that have no simple answers.

We want to continue establishing Santa Maria da Feira as a culturally vibrant and intellectually curious municipality. A place that preserves its identity while recognising culture as a way to understand change, make better choices and create the conditions for a deeper understanding of the world we live in.

Amadeu Soares Albergaria
Mayor of Santa Maria da Feira

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Miolo is a place to better understand the present.

It begins with literature and the book, but it is not a festival centred on promoting books or authors. What interests us is what literature can open up: ideas, questions, concerns and different ways of interpreting the world. The name itself points to this inner, essential space, to what lies at the core and gives meaning.

We live in increasingly complex societies, undergoing profound transformations in technology, politics, science, culture and human relationships. Faced with this complexity, we believe culture also has a role to play in creating spaces where we can pause and engage with different perspectives.

This is the ambition behind Miolo: to create a space for contemporary thought in Santa Maria da Feira, bringing together writers, researchers, scientists, artists and other voices who are reflecting on our time and the changes shaping it.

Literature remains the foundation and starting point, but the festival seeks to build connections with other fields of knowledge. We want each encounter to offer a new idea, raise a question or provide a different way of looking at what is happening around us.

Above all, Miolo aims to be a place where ideas circulate and where we can find the time to better understand the present.

Paulo Marcelo
Councillor for Culture, Tourism and Heritage