Algarve Festivals

Loulé, the capital of the Golden Triangle of the Algarve, is the most traditional centre of carnival in Portugal, and the annual procession is a great spectacle, attracting thousands of visitors year by year. In the summer season the Festival MED and the Noite Branca are transforming the squares and lanes of the historical old town of Loulé into a single huge stage full of music, dance and fun. The centuries-old Feira da Sta. Iria in Faro is one of the most traditional fairs in Portugal, and the Festa da Pinha with an endless procession of horsemen, horse-drawn carriages, tractors and lorries, all beautifully decorated with flowers from Estoi near Faro to Ludo at the Ria Formosa is a great show not to be missed – Viva a Pinha! For more than 500 years, the festival of Nossa Senhora da Piedade, the patroness of Loulé, known as Mãe Soberana (Sovereign Mother), has been celebrated in Loulé for two weeks starting on Easter Sunday.  This festival of the local patroness of the region is considered the largest religious demonstration in Portugal, south of Fátima.And there are many more events not to be missed in many other places.