Best stay in lisbon is Alfama I think. Lovely place, many small streets/restaurants/ good places to visit, not that overcrowded. You have access to the metro to Cais du Sodre there.
Best stay according to reach the festival may be Belem (which is close to the festival), but that's far from the city center and there not so much to do before that (except the visit of the beautiful monastry).
If you like to get fast to the festival (and stay in the city centre) stay close to "Cais Du Sodre". It's the train station where every train to Alges (Festivalsite) departs and and arrives and it is close to Bairro Alto, where you can find many bars, if you like that. There are many hostels in Bairro Alto. It's nice, but it's full of tourists and bars. If you like to stay quiet - stay at Alfama.
Near "Rossio" is also a very good place to stay, because it's central to everything.
"Also, does anyone know when the whole festival usually sells out?"
This year was special - in the last years you where able to buy 3-day-passes until april/may....
NOS Alive 2018
in overseas festivals
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Nice info... thanks