Nightly World Press Photo Showcase Turns Portimão’s Old Fish Market into Art

You will notice the Algarve’s balmy evenings feel different once the sun slips behind the Arade River this month: there is suddenly a quiet hum around the former Lota in Portimão, where world-class photojournalism illuminates the old fish warehouse until midnight and strangers whisper in half a dozen languages about the same 42 photographs. The free exhibition, squeezed in between beach days and late-night seafood dinners, is small enough to explore in under an hour yet vast in the questions it raises.

Portimão’s riverside warehouse transforms after dark

By 18:00, when the metal shutters roll up, cool air drifts off the river and the concrete floor of the Antiga Lota becomes a stage for light-boxed images. Entry remains free, a rarity for a show of this calibre, and visitors may wander right up to closing time at 00:00. Staff tell us the late schedule deliberately matches the city’s summer rhythm—families arrive post-beach, digital nomads drop in after work, and tourists drift over once the promenade’s live-music sets wind down. QR codes deliver bilingual captions, while discreet tactile guides help partially sighted guests trace the contours of each frame. Wheelchair access, recently improved with new ramps, now extends to the riverside terrace where locals sip imperiais before re-entering for a second lap.

The images testing our comfort zone

This 68th edition was carved out of 59,320 submissions from 3,778 photographers in 141 countries, but curators whittled the final selection to forty-two photographs that confront the world’s most urgent narratives. Visitors linger longest at Samar Abu Elouf’s Photo of the Year 2025: a quiet portrait of nine-year-old Mahmoud Ajjour, who lost both arms fleeing an airstrike in Gaza. The Doha-based Palestinian photographer describes the frame as a “documento moral,” reminding viewers that war’s scars extend far beyond the front page. Nearby panels delve into gender identity in the Netherlands, political theatre in Washington and Berlin, and the blunt force of the climate emergency from the Andes to the Philippines. Portuguese pride also surfaces through Maria Abranches’ self-reflective series "MARIA," which dissects the intersection of tradition and modern femininity in rural Portugal.

How did Portimão secure the first Portuguese stop—again?

The Algarve port was the earliest national host back in 1999, and its municipality has leveraged that legacy into a near-permanent slot on the World Press Photo tour. Since 2021 the town has posted Portugal’s highest attendance figures for the exhibition, a statistic city officials attribute to the mix of sun-seekers, international residents, and a cultural calendar marketed under the catchy banner É verão, É Portimão. Behind the scenes, Associação Cultural Música XXI manages curation while city hall underwrites logistics, betting that a cosmopolitan audience will spill into hotels, cafés, and beach bars. University of the Algarve economists are now crunching numbers to translate those footfalls into hard euro data.

Saturdays with the storytellers

A new wrinkle for 2025 is the decision to fly in prize-winning photographers for public talks. Each Saturday evening a different guest will lead an informal “conversa” in Portuguese and English, explaining everything from field-safety protocols in conflict zones to the ethics of photographing minors. The opening night on 20 July even features one of the winners cutting the ribbon alongside the mayor. Organisers hint that drop-in media crews may transform parts of the gallery into a live-broadcast backdrop, so expect a few moments of controlled chaos.

Practical tips for the international crowd

Reaching the venue is easy: a five-minute stroll from Portimão train station, or, for drivers coming up the coast, exit 5 on the A22 funnels straight to the Zona Ribeirinha parking garage. Cyclists have a dedicated riverside lane, while electric-scooter docking points line Avenida São João de Deus. Temperatures hover around 24 °C after sunset, so bring a light layer; the refrigerated crates inside can feel chilly compared with the humid promenade. English is widely spoken by staff, but try greeting with a cheerful “Boa noite”—it often earns a warmer welcome.

A broader summer canvas

World Press Photo is merely one tile in Portimão’s mosaic of warm-weather programming. On alternate nights the same waterfront hosts open-air jazz, contemporary dance pop-ups, and the nocturnal market Lota COOL, where artisans sell upcycled cork handbags next to stalls ladling out cataplana de marisco. For expats weighing a permanent move, these layered cultural offerings illustrate how a former canning town reinvented itself into a year-round lifestyle hub without surrendering its fishing-port roots.

Where the collection travels next

If you miss the Algarve run, the 2025 winners head to Barcelona, then fan out to more than 60 cities worldwide, including an autumn stop at Lisbon’s Gulbenkian Foundation—though Lisbon charges admission and keeps shorter hours. Veteran visitors say nothing quite replicates a Portimão night when salt air weaves through the gallery and the horizon still glows faintly long after official sunset.