Lisbon club Outra Cena launch fundraising campaign after police raids threaten future

Lisbon venue Outra Cena is fundraising to protect its future following recent police raids.

In a new GoFundMe campaign, the club’s team said authorities have raided the club twice, first on 21st November and more recently this past Saturday morning, 13th December.

“For some reasons we don’t know, [our] landlord hasn’t been able to obtain the licensing that we need — something we have absolutely no control over,” Outra Cena’s team wrote in the statement.

This “caused the authorities to remove the official seal from our sound limiter”, which is “a mandatory condition to be allowed to play amplified music after 23:00.”

“The police raids started shortly after this”, the GoFundMe statement continued, “and during the last one, some of our equipment was seized, with a threat to take everything next time”.

The planned Noite Príncipe event on 13th December, was cancelled and Outra Cena hosted a daytime fundraising event the following day to begin to chip away at the “significant debts” the venue already owes, in addition to the financial hardship they face with limited operation options.

“Until this administrative situation is resolved, our only realistic way to operate without risk is during the daytime, which will very likely have a major impact on attendance and income.”

All funds raised will go towards staffing, administration, recouping cancelled event costs, utilities, licenses, rent, artists and replacing or returning their seized equipment. The fundraiser has a target of €24,140. As of 15th December, over €4,400 had been pledged.

Outra Cena opened in 2023 in a former wine warehouse, the landlord of which has plans for additional real estate development in the immediate area.

“We were given guarantees that we could operate a club there, and were told that several meetings had already taken place with the local authorities, who supported the project”, the club team said on GoFundMe.

“…We are fully sound-proofed, have done thorough noise testing that got approved by the authorities, and are absolutely certain that our space causes no disturbance (there are no residents within a large radius). We have carried out extensive works to meet the legal requirements to operate a club in Portugal.”

Outra Cena added that there have been no legal issues with the venue until this past November. 

In July, Lisbon’s Rádio Quântica launched a fundraiser for a new studio and community artspace. 

Find more information and support Outra Cena via GoFundMe.