The Vilar de Mouros Festival was created in 1965 as an event for traditional folk music from the Alto Minho and Galicia regions.

Folk singer-songwriter José Afonso and guitarist Carlos Paredes were the most notorious artists that performed in that edition.

Elton John and Mannfred Mann were the headliners, and Portuguese acts, such as Quarteto 1111 and Sindicato, composed the rest of the lineup.

On the final weekend, fado singer Amália Rodrigues and Angolan band Duo Ouro Negro performed.

[6] Some of the young people attending the festival were described as having "extravagant clothing, long hair and a hippie and libertine spirit".

[5] There were also reports of pillaging of cornfields in the proximity from attendees wanting to eat, due to the structural problems inside the festival.

At least one agent from the DGS (formerly PIDE, Portugal's secret police during the Estado Novo) was present at the festival, and his report from the event is now disclosed.

[4] Constant schedule changes and divergences between the organizers, program managers and producers led a newspaper at the time to call this edition "the festival of bummers".

Some highlights from these years were concerts by Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel, Neil Young, The Pretenders, Alanis Morissette, Iron Maiden, Skunk Anansie, Ben Harper, Manu Chao, UB40, Joe Cocker, The Cure, Rammstein, Robert Plant, Sonic Youth, Lamb, Beck, Bush, Sepultura and Guano Apes.

Portoeventos signed a new contract with the civil parish of Vilar de Mouros, without consultation from the Caminha municipality.