Stretching 47 meters long, the vessel has already become “one of Europe’s most ambitious travelling cultural projects,” according to Portugal Confidential.

Starting Thursday [18 June] next week, the Cascais marina will transform into an open-air cultural village, described as a Mediterranean-inspired summer gathering, with a festival offering live music, art, workshops, and a virtual reality experience that feels “more like a creative voyage than a traditional arts festival.”

The futuristic catamaran, designed by Axel de Beaufort and Guillaume Verdier, will be the headliner of the festival. Capable of welcoming up to 2,000 visitors in a day, guests can experience immersive art installations created in collaboration with prominent international institutions such as the Louvre Museum, IRCAM at the Centre Pompidou, and Ubisoft.

Through digital projections and sound design, one exhibition explores female figures in the Mediterranean civilisations, and through virtual reality, another exhibition transports visitors to ancient Alexandria, Athens, and Renaissance Venice.

On land, festivalgoers can expect sunset concerts, DJ sets, dance events, experimental performances, family programming, artist-led workshops, and open-air screenings. The Art Explora Festival, which runs from the 18 to 28 of June, is free and open to the public.