Madeira events and festivals

aCORDE – International Festival of Traditional String Instruments

📍 Funchal · 2 – 7 February 2026

Six days around traditional string instruments: concerts, workshops and meetings between musicians from several countries. The Madeiran mandolin holds its place among the cordophones from elsewhere.

Porto Moniz Trail

📍 Porto Moniz · 8 February 2026

Three routes — ultra, long and short — crossing the green of Porto Moniz by veredas, levadas, forest tracks and mountain accesses.

Madeira Music Festival

📍 Several venues across the island · 7 – 28 March 2026

Ten concerts spread over several venues across the island, with 191 artists from all over the world for the 39th edition. The festival leaves Funchal: Calheta and Câmara de Lobos take part of the programme.

Biosfera Roller Skate

📍 Foz da Ribeira do Faial · 13 March 2026

An international speed skating tournament on the 200 m track at Foz da Ribeira do Faial, in Santana. It closes the season.

Madeira Roller Marathon

📍 Funchal · 15 March 2026

A speed skating race in five formats: a 100 m sprint, an 800 m nano marathon, a 2 km micro marathon, a 12.8 km mini marathon and the 42.195 km marathon.

Craftsmen's Week

📍 Funchal · 17 – 21 March 2026

Around 19 March, World Craftsmen's Day, the regional wine, embroidery and crafts institute runs a programme devoted to the island's traditional trades: embroidery, wickerwork, instruments — and to the craftsmen themselves as ambassadors of those skills.

AMO-TEatro Festival

📍 Camacha · 21 – 29 March 2026

Madeira's theatre festival, in its thirteenth edition in 2026, run by the Teatro Experimental da Casa do Povo da Camacha. Performances are spread over two weekends.

Sugarcane Fair

📍 Canhas · 28 – 29 March 2026

The fair of sugar cane and its by-products is held in the parish of Canhas, in Ponta do Sol. It is run by the Ponta do Sol community centre with the regional directorate.

Mandoisland Concerts

📍 Calheta and Santa Cruz · 8 May 2026

The duo of Norberto Gonçalves da Cruz on mandolin and Slobodan Sarcevic on accordion, in concerts open to all, away from Funchal. It is more than a concert: the regional portal presents it as a celebration of the richness of sound, open to the whole community.

Flower Concerts

📍 Several landmark venues · 9 – 30 May 2026

Four concerts given at landmark venues around the island during the Flower Festival, precisely in order to take the celebrations out of Funchal. The dates are spread across the month: two concerts at the start, two at the end.

Madeira Flower Classic Auto Parade

📍 Funchal · 10 May 2026

Three hundred and fifty vehicles — classic cars and bicycles — parade with several hundred participants in flower-patterned costume. It is the motoring side of the Flower Festival.

«Aqui Acolá» Festival

📍 Historic centre of Ponta do Sol · 14 – 17 May 2026

The historic centre of Ponta do Sol hosts the tenth edition of a festival that mixes cultural programming with bringing the town to life, over four days.

Floral Installations

📍 Funchal · 21 – 24 May 2026

Floral sculptures set up around the city, pairing the island's flora with the motifs of Madeiran tradition. They are part of the Flower Festival programme.

Rampa dos Barreiros

📍 Funchal · 24 May 2026

A regularity hill climb for historic cars, on a closed circuit of about 2.5 km starting in front of the Regional Assembly and climbing the southern lane. Twenty-second edition in 2026.

Madeira Mandolin Orchestra season

📍 Funchal · 3 June – 28 October 2026

The Madeira Mandolin Orchestra plays weekly from June to October. The regional portal presents it as both the oldest and the youngest mandolin orchestra in Europe.

Atlantic Roots Festival

📍 Santa Catarina Park · 11 – 13 June 2026

Three days in Santa Catarina Park given over to the music and cultures of the Atlantic: traditional sounds, contemporary fusions, Portuguese and foreign artists.

São João na Sé Festivities

📍 Cathedral quarter, Funchal · 19 – 27 June 2026

Funchal's council brings together for the first time two of the city's feasts: the Festas da Sé and the Saint John's altars. Nine days around the cathedral.

Baco Nights

📍 Blandy's Wine Lodge, Funchal · 20 June 2026

A tasting of more than three hundred wines from seventy producers, at the São Francisco lodges, on a Saturday in June from 3 to 8 p.m. Fifteenth edition in 2026.

24 Horas a Bailar Folklore Festival

📍 Santana · 4 – 5 July 2026

Twenty-four hours of dancing in Santana, with folklore groups from the island and the mainland. The festival falls when Madeiran emigrants come home for the summer.

Funchal Jazz Festival

📍 Municipal Garden and Santa Catarina Park · 6 – 11 July 2026

Since 2000 the festival has brought in names from Portuguese and international jazz. Concerts are played in the Municipal Garden and Santa Catarina Park, with Funchal bay behind.

Tuna, Skipjack and Seafood Festival

📍 Caniçal · 10 – 12 July 2026

The centre of Caniçal, a former whaling port turned tuna fishing port, gives three days in July to tuna, gaiado — skipjack — and seafood. The feast was born in 2016; ninth edition in 2026.

Harvey Foster Classic New Road

📍 Câmara de Lobos and Funchal · 12 July 2026

A classic car race run in honour of Bernard Harvey Foster, who brought the first motor car to Madeira in 1904. Thirteenth edition in 2026.

Limpets Festival

📍 Paul do Mar · 24 – 25 July 2026

The fishing village of Paul do Mar gives a July weekend to the lapa, the limpet, a mollusc widely eaten in Madeiran cooking. It is a recent feast, created to bring locals and visitors together around a dish eaten grilled, with lemon.

Regional Banana Show

📍 Madalena do Mar · 25 – 26 July 2026

The parish of Madalena do Mar, in Ponta do Sol, gives two days to the banana, one of the island's most important farm products. The programme mixes tasting, arraial and music, in the very village where a good part of the crop grows.

Madeira Rally

📍 Roads across the island · 30 July – 1 August 2026

Since 1959 the international Madeira rally has brought drivers from all over the world onto the island's roads, with thousands of spectators. The stages cross most of the municipalities.

Machico Gastronomic Week

📍 Machico · 31 July – 9 August 2026

Thirty-ninth edition in 2026: ten days of Madeiran cooking run by Machico's council, one of the fixed points of the summer. The island's dishes are served, with an arraial and music in the evening, in the town centre.

Black Scabbardfish Festival

📍 Câmara de Lobos bay · 6 – 9 August 2026

Câmara de Lobos bay celebrates each year the black scabbardfish, the deep-water fish caught at night that has become an emblem of the Madeiran table. Run by the parish council.

L Concerts

📍 Ponta do Sol · 19 August – 22 October 2026

A concert series run by the Estalagem da Ponta do Sol with the company Urbanistas and the Madeira Conservatory, from August to October. The regional portal notes that the series has gained a national and international audience.

Blandy's Wine Festival

📍 Adegas de São Francisco, Funchal · 1 – 4 September 2026

In the old Adegas de São Francisco, in the heart of Funchal, four days of tastings, cellar visits and public grape treading, during the Wine Festival.

Concerts from the Vineyard to the Winepress

📍 Porto Moniz and Santana · 5 – 13 September 2026

The music leaves Funchal and follows the harvest on the north coast: concerts held among the terraced vines and in the wine presses of Porto Moniz and Santana, where the grape is crushed.

Grape and Farmer Festival

📍 Santana · 5 – 6 September 2026

Santana celebrates the harvest and the work of the land: a display of farm produce, grape treading, music and north-coast cooking, in the town of the thatched houses.

Concerts in the Vineyards

📍 Vineyards and wine cellars · 12 September 2026

Concerts held among the vines and in the cellars during the Wine Festival, away from downtown Funchal: the music moves to where the grape is grown and pressed.

Live Harvest in Estreito de Câmara de Lobos

📍 Estreito de Câmara de Lobos · 12 September 2026

A re-enactment of the traditional harvest in the parish that supplies much of the grape for Madeira wine: picking, carrying in the borracho, treading in the lagar, songs and costumes.

Columbus Festival

📍 Vila Baleira, Porto Santo · 17 – 20 September 2026

On the neighbouring island of Porto Santo, four days of 16th-century re-enactment: a period market, caravels in the harbour, street music and theatre around Christopher Columbus's stay. The regional calendar lists it for the whole archipelago; you get there by ferry or plane.

Apple Festival (Calheta and São Vicente)

📍 Calheta and São Vicente · 19 – 20 September 2026

The apple from the high orchards is celebrated at the end of the harvest: juice and cider pressed on the spot, pastries, a display of local varieties and popular music.

TransMadeira

📍 A mountain-bike crossing of the island · 28 September – 3 October 2026

An enduro mountain-bike crossing of Madeira, stage by stage from west to east: a different sector of the island each day, technical descents in the Laurissilva and uplifts provided by the organisers.

Apple Festival of Santa Cruz

📍 Santa Cruz · 2 – 4 October 2026

One of the island's oldest farming feasts — the thirty-ninth edition in 2026: an apple competition, cider, food and folk groups in the town of Santa Cruz.

Madeira Nature Festival

📍 Across the island · 6 – 11 October 2026

A week of guided mountain and sea activities: hiking, mountain biking, canyoning, paragliding, diving and boat trips spread across the island. It is the event that showcases the nature park and the Laurissilva.

Feast of the Senhor dos Milagres

📍 Machico · 8 – 9 October 2026

The legend tells that the image of the Senhor dos Milagres was swept away by a flood in 1803, found at sea and returned to its chapel: it was taken for a miracle. Every year Machico switches off all the lights of the bay and the procession crosses the town by candle and torchlight alone.

Sea and Fisherman Fair

📍 Machico · 9 – 11 October 2026

Machico bay honours the trades of the sea: fish grilled on the seafront, fishing demonstrations, crafts and entertainment, in a municipality whose economy long lived from the open water.

100 Miles Historic Rally

📍 Machico and Santa Cruz · 10 October 2026

A regularity event for vintage cars over a hundred miles of roads in the east of the island, between Machico and Santa Cruz: closer in spirit to a timed drive than to a race.

Madeira Canyoning Meeting

📍 São Vicente · 18 – 23 October 2026

The deep-cut streams of the north coast are the ground for this yearly meeting: guided descents at several levels, technical workshops and exchanges between practitioners, starting from São Vicente.

Madeira Legend Rally

📍 Funchal, Ribeira Brava, Santa Cruz · 22 – 24 October 2026

A historic car rally on the island's mountain roads, with special stages in several municipalities and a service park in Funchal; it completes the regional motorsport calendar alongside the Madeira Wine Rally.

Madeira International Mandolin Festival

📍 Funchal · 23 October – 11 November 2026

The mandolin is a traditional instrument in Madeira, alongside the braguinha and the rajão. The festival brings orchestras and soloists from several countries for a series of concerts in Funchal — eleventh edition in 2026.

General Illumination of the Funchal Amphitheatre

📍 Funchal amphitheatre · 1 December 2026 – 10 January 2027

On 1 December the amphitheatre of Funchal lights up at once: streets, squares and hillsides stay illuminated until early January, together with the Christmas windows and exhibits downtown. It is «the party» of the archipelago.

Christmas Market and Ethnographic Village

📍 Avenida Arriaga, Funchal · 1 December 2026 – 10 January 2027

Wooden chalets along the main avenue, nativity scenes and an ethnographic village that rebuilds the trades and interiors of the past; the Christmas windows and downtown exhibits complete the route until early January.

Christmas Workshops

📍 Avenida Arriaga, Funchal · 2 December 2026 – 8 January 2027

Beside the stage on Avenida Arriaga, traditional Madeiran Christmas products are prepared and shared free of charge, on announced dates and times.

Christmas Village

📍 Praça do Município, Funchal · 4 December 2026 – 6 January 2027

The town hall square is given over to children and families: Christmas activities, sets and entertainment, from early December until Epiphany. Children explore, imagine and play there: it is the family counterpart to Funchal's Christmas lights.

Traditional Christmas Delicacies Display

📍 São Vicente · 12 – 13 December 2026

The Christmas pastries of the north coast are shown and sold on the spot: cane-honey cake, broas, spiced biscuits and homemade liqueurs, prepared from the recipes of the valley's families.

Childbirth Masses (Missas do Parto)

📍 Across the island · 15 – 23 December 2026

A novena sung at dawn in the island's churches: mass begins before daylight, backed by braguinha and percussion, and carries on outside around a shared meal. It is the most living Christmas tradition in Madeira.

New Year's Eve Firework Display

📍 Funchal bay · 31 December 2026

At midnight Funchal bay catches fire: the display is launched at once from several points of the amphitheatre and from ships at anchor, and is seen from the whole city and the surrounding viewpoints.

New Year's Eve Show

📍 Funchal and Porto Santo · 31 December 2026 – 1 January 2027

Open-air concerts and stages set up on the squares of Funchal, and on Porto Santo, around the midnight fireworks; the night carries on in music until dawn.

Chants of the Epiphany

📍 Municipal Garden, Funchal · 5 January 2027

On the eve of Epiphany, groups sing the Reis in the Municipal Garden of Funchal: the official close of the end-of-year festivities, shutting the cycle opened on 1 December.

Compadres Feast

📍 Santana · 28 January – 4 February 2027

A tradition of its own in Santana, the Compadres Feast opens Carnival: two rag figures, the compadre and the comadre, are put on trial in the square in a mock hearing where the year's scores are settled in song, before being burnt.

Funchal Marathon

📍 Funchal · 31 January 2027

Three races in one: a 42.195 km marathon, a 21.0975 km half marathon and a shorter distance. The event draws several hundred athletes, some of them world names.

Madeira Carnival

📍 Downtown Funchal · 3 – 14 February 2027

Two weeks of entertainment in downtown Funchal, with two parades that answer each other: the Cortejo Alegórico, a parade of costumed troupes and floats, and the satirical Cortejo Trapalhão, open to anyone. The Solidarity Carnival and the Children's Carnival complete the programme.

Solidarity Carnival

📍 Avenida Arriaga, Funchal · 5 February 2027

Hundreds of revellers from the Funchal community development association parade down Avenida Arriaga to the Municipal Garden, where a show awaits them.

Allegoric Carnival Parade

📍 Avenida do Mar, Funchal · 5 – 6 February 2027

The Carnival's great parade: costumed troupes, floats and drum sections come down the seafront avenue. It is the high point of the festivities, preceded the same day by the Solidarity Carnival and the Children's Carnival.

Carnival Allegoric Parade

📍 Funchal city centre · 5 – 6 February 2027

Two night parades of floats and costumes cross the centre of Funchal — for the first time over two nights in 2027. Around thirty floats and several hundred costumes come down the avenue amid the music.

Slapstick Parade

📍 Downtown Funchal · 9 February 2027

The satirical counterpoint to the great parade: anyone may join, costumes mock the year's news and improvisation is the rule. It closes Carnival on Shrove Tuesday.

Madeira Flower Festival

📍 Downtown Funchal · 29 April – 30 May 2027

The month of the flower in Funchal: floral carpets, a flower market, installations, concerts, the Madeira Flower Collection fashion show, and two high points — the Great Allegoric Flower Parade and the Wall of Hope, where children each place a flower.

Palheiro Gardens Golf Classic

📍 Palheiro Golf, Funchal · 30 April – 1 May 2027

A tournament played on the Palheiro course, 500 m above Funchal, inside the estate of the gardens of the same name. It opens the Flower Festival calendar.

Wall of Hope Ceremony

📍 Praça do Município, Funchal · 1 May 2027

Thousands of children each place a flower on a wall raised in the town-hall square until it is completely covered: the symbolic opening of the Flower Festival. A twin ceremony, the Wall of Solidarity, follows a few days later.

Great Allegoric Flower Parade

📍 Avenida do Mar, Funchal · 2 May 2027

Floats entirely covered in flowers, costumed groups and choreographies come down the seafront avenue. It is the most widely shared image of the Flower Festival; the official programme schedules two editions within the month.

Wall of Solidarity

📍 Avenida Arriaga, Funchal · 7 May 2027

On the central walkways of Avenida Arriaga, people from social solidarity institutions build a wall of flowers together. It is the inclusive counterpart of the Wall of Hope.

Madeira Flower Collection

📍 Funchal · 15 May 2027

A fashion show inside the Flower Festival programme: regional designers present collections inspired by the island's flora, often embroidered or made from local materials.

Madeira Classic Car Revival

📍 Funchal · 28 – 30 May 2027

A gathering of vintage cars in the streets of Funchal, closing the Flower Festival: static display, parade and crews in period dress.

Atlantic Festival

📍 Funchal bay · 4 – 27 June 2027

June opens the summer season: free concerts, dance performances and open-air exhibitions in downtown Funchal, and above all fireworks over the bay every Saturday of the month.

DOC. Atlantic

📍 Several municipalities · 4 – 25 June 2027

A documentary season devoted to the Region's natural, scientific and landscape heritage, around the work of the naturalists and documentary makers who have studied Madeira's biodiversity.

Sixteenth Century Market

📍 Machico · 4 – 6 June 2027

Machico, the archipelago's first captaincy seat, turns back the clock: the old town becomes a 16th-century market, with stalls, craftsmen, musicians and street theatre around the bay of the 1419 landing.

Madeira International Fireworks Contest

📍 Funchal bay · 5 June 2027

Four pyrotechnic teams compete, one each Saturday of June, with displays synchronised to a soundtrack over Funchal bay. The city's natural amphitheatre serves as the stand.

Regional Arts Week

📍 Funchal · 7 – 12 June 2027

A week given over to regional creation: concerts, performances, exhibitions and work from the Region's arts schools, shown in the halls and squares of Funchal.

Madeira Gastronomic Festival – SAL

📍 Funchal · 9 – 18 July 2027

A regional gastronomy event on the official calendar: demonstrations, tables and encounters around Madeiran cooking and its produce. The official calendar schedules it from 2027 onwards.

Classics at Magnolia

📍 Quinta Magnólia, Funchal · 17 – 18 July 2027

A vintage car display in the garden of Quinta Magnólia, with crews in period costume. The official calendar sets it on the last weekend before the Madeira Wine Rally.

European Folklore Week

📍 Funchal · 22 – 26 August 2027

Folk groups from several European countries perform in Funchal alongside Madeiran groups, just as the Wine Festival opens.

Madeira Wine Festival

📍 Funchal and Estreito de Câmara de Lobos · 22 August – 12 September 2027

Three weeks around wine, in the city and in the vineyards: concerts, exhibitions and parades in Funchal, a live harvest at Estreito de Câmara de Lobos, concerts among the vines and a tasting space, the Madeira Wine Lounge.

Madeira Wine Lounge

📍 Funchal · 26 August – 12 September 2027

A tasting space set up in Funchal during the Wine Festival: producers of the appellation present their wines, from dry to sweet, with agricultural rum stills completing the table.