Festival IN 2015. Innovation and creativity x2
The 2nd edition of the Innovation and Creativity Festival welcomed approximately 57,000 visitors. In this initiative, people take the opportunity to participate in various activities and learn a lot about what is done in the cultural and creative industry in Portugal. From mentoring initiatives, pitching events, cultural exhibitions, and innovative projects to music concerts, performing arts, fashion shows, love painting, the launch of new online competition games, comic book exhibitions, and many other initiatives.
On Sunday, Espalha-Factos (Spread-Facts) attended the IN Festival to bring readers all the most interesting things that were happening there. This year, there were 397 more entities present than last year, which led to a greater number of activities and shows.
In the four pavilions where the festival was spread out, the theme of entrepreneurship was common, whether through sustainability, support for companies in internal and external communication, the development of small businesses, or co-working spaces.
No Pavilhão 1 estiveram instalados vários projectos de apoio ao empreendedorismo por parte da Câmara Municipal de Almada. In Pavilion 1, several projects supporting entrepreneurship by the Almada City Council were on display. Projects such as Quarteirão das Artes (Arts Quarter) and Núcleo Empresarial de Almada (Almada Business Center) are some of the initiatives undertaken by the municipality to support the development of small Portuguese businesses, providing shared or individual workspaces, virtual incubation, and common areas at nominal rents. This space housed several design, advertising, music, and creative companies.
One of them was DEADINBEIRUTE which, according to its creators, is a “small studio with big ambitions.” They describe themselves as “passionate about all aspects of design and communication”, but they are not just designers, they are also artists PONTO ZURCA was another company we encountered there, a publishing house based in Almada that works with renowned names in Portuguese music such as Ana Bacalhau, Ana Moura, Deolinda, among others. But this space is also investing in rehabilitation with another innovative and out-of-the-box project, STORYTELLERS. This concept aims to rehabilitate the Cacilhas area through containers that will be used for team building, co-working, and temporary accommodation. As one of the people responsible for the project explained, “the name came from the idea of sharing. A space to be shared, to share stories and knowledge, and to revitalize an area with untapped potential such as Cacilhas.”
Other projects of this kind have also been implemented in other locations, such as TORRES INOV-E, which aims to promote businesses with innovative characteristics.
In pavilions 2 and 3, we found many innovations in the fields of technology, design, audiovisual, and multimedia. Some of the creative companies present were WONDERLAB, spic, and altlab. The last one is a project to share with the necessary work materials (more focused on technology), with the idea of sharing knowledge and experiences.
At a time when the market is already so saturated with advertising, ADVERT proposes a new way of communicating a brand to the world. Through their specialized bicycles, cyclists advertise certain brands in a sustainable, innovative, and creative way. But sustainability doesn’t stop there. Other projects such as myAQUA are committed to facilitating our perception of water consumption as natural resource. This new application is free and designed by EPAL to enable consumers to manage information relating to various consumption locations in a simple and convenient way.
This pavilion also featured a number of business concepts based on supporting companies, such as EASY EASY APP, which offers a service through a website that allows users to create their own personalized application, and Wannasite, which promises to create websites optimized for the desired functions and with adapted software through this system. Also worthy of mention is mais+, a creative consultancy that aims to help institutions leverage their creative capital and innovate in their businesses.
Another way in which the festival invested in the future was by promoting its educational offerings, both nationally and internationally. Universities such as IADE and LAUREATE were present to promote their courses to visitors.
Lastly, pavilion 4 was largely dedicated to art, 3D, and fashion. Several Portuguese and foreign designers were present to promote my products and their brand. In the field of 3D, it was possible to learn about various brands and their printing processes, such as 3DESIGN and 3DFACTORY. One of the most innovative models in this era was the BEETHEFIRST 3D PRINTER, a 3D printer that claims to be ideal for architects and designers. It offers all the advantages of 3D printing in a more compact printer that is easy to have at home without requiring much maintenance.