Fado is a world-wide known symbol for Portugal these days. Although the Fado is sung in different ways in several regions like Lisbon and Coimbra (in the Fado of Lisbon you find more Arabic than Celtic influences, while this is exactly vice versa in the Fado from Coimbra), the Fado is the almost tangible expression of the soul of the Portuguese people. The word Fado comes from the Latin word fatum, which means fate. Things that are meant to will inevitably be. This is why the Fado often sounds so melancholic and sad. As if the fate of the singer is really the opposite of what he wishes it to be. The Fado sings about the discord in existence, fate, nostalgia (in Portuguese: saudade), the sea, love, religion and other themes. Saudade is not just a Fado theme, but a deep feeling in the soul of the Portuguese people. An important Portuguese poet once said: “The desire is the sensuous and merry part of the saudade, the memory its spiritual and distorted face. Maria de Fátima as the true "Fadista" (Fadista is the Portuguese name for a Fado singer) that she is, says that Fado is really a song of life. If I read a text that does not mean anything to me from deep within me, then I cannot sing Fado. It doesn't matter if the text is really beautiful, I just have to feel what I sing. That is not something that you can learn. Another well known Fado singer recently said that through a Portuguese reveals his or her feelings musically and poetically through Fado. There is a direct connection between the words and the music, because the singer can only put his or her whole soul into the music when he or she understands the song. Only then is it possible to sing freely. Amalia Rodrigues is the greatest "Fadista" of all time. She made the Fado known world-wide outside of Portugal.

The male Fadista usually dresses in black. He sings about his town, his love affairs, the misery of existence, politics or about criticising the environment he lives in. The female Fadista singer sings with a plaintive voice and always dresses in black, usually with a scarf around her shoulders. She sings about love and death. Death in the sense of loosing a beloved. This way of singing reflects in a certain respect the way the Portuguese soul views life. Their believe in fate, as something that happens to you and which you cannot escape from. The dominance of the soul over the heart and the mind. In Coimbra the Fado also sounds sad and melancholic, but from a different point of view. Increasingly more young people from Porto and Lisbon came to Coimbra with their guitars. They played a new style of Fado, which was especially appreciated by students. What better way for them to express their feelings of longing and desperation about an unrequited love, than with song and guitar. And what better way for them to express their displeasure about the loss of their youth, than with Fado music.

Fadista are usually accompanied by the 'Guitarra Portuguesa' (originating from England - twelve metal strings) and the 'Viola' guitar (Classical Spanish guitar). The exact origin of Fado is not clear, but one of theories reads that Negro slaves from Brasil came to Portugal in the beginning of the 19th Century and introduced the Fado music there. Another theory is that Fado originates from the time of the discovery voyages. In short, nobody really knows for certain. It is however known that the traditional Fado belongs to the working-class quarters of Alfama, Bairro Alto, Mouraria and Madragoa, where you can hear the music in typical Fado fashion.