This year, the Festa Branca returns to Loulé, to close with a golden key the animation of the month of August in the Algarve. It will be on August 31 that, after two years of interruption, this event, which aims to say goodbye to the summer, returns to the streets of Loulé with music, street entertainment, fashion, painting and plastic arts, under the motto of White.
Summer is about sun and beach, but also entertainment. At least in the Algarve, which has scheduled the month of August with concerts, sardine parties (yes, in the plural), themed medieval and craft fairs and festivals dedicated to seafood. Not even a procession escapes the summer poster, which wants to fill the free time of residents and tourists who vacation in the region.
The program starts with an event designed for strong sardine lovers. From the 01st to the 11th, a traditional Algarve festival will be installed in the riverside area of Portimão with a ballet dancer to give rhythm to whoever is eating that roasted fish. On bread or on a plate, with boiled potatoes or mountain salad to accompany, what matters here is to satisfy the hunger for sardines, the greatest gastronomic icon in the city of Portimo. The Sardine Festival starts at 21 pm.
On the 02nd (and until the 04th of August), the main dish is different: chicken from Guia, which, for being so famous, deserves the organization of an event in its own name, the Festa do Frango da Guia. It is already in its XXVI edition and will take, from 19 pm onwards, to the Polidesportivo of Guia Futebol Clube, in Albufeira, hundreds of people who share the taste of eating grilled chicken.
From Albufeira, it is now departing for Loulé and Silves for other programs, tuned for those who enjoy jazz music and time travel to distant centuries. Between August 02nd and 04th, the Loulé International Jazz Festival will explore a jazz repertoire as different as the groups that will pass through the municipal park, where the concerts take place. At Projet, Ricardo Coelho Project, Quintet Desidério Lázaro, Paulo Luz, Anna Maria Jopek and Betty M. Quartet are the names chosen for this edition of the festival, under the artistic direction of Mário Laginha.
Also starting on the 02nd, the Medieval Fair of Silves will reach the historic center of the city with ten days of historical recreation of the medieval period of the ancient capital of the kingdom of Algarve. And what will happen? Two horseback tournaments a day, a theatrical show in the castle and lots of dancing and entertainment at a fair that will run from 18:00 pm to 01:00 am from Monday to Friday and from 18:00 pm to 02:00 am on weekends. Ends August 11th.
For those who did not have the opportunity to taste sardines in Portimão, there will be another good chance to do so, this time in Albufeira. The Sardine Festival of Olhos de Água will occupy the Pescadores Square with kilos and kilos of delicious fish for the most gluttonous. It takes place from 08 am to 11 pm, with free entry.
Meanwhile, the summer continues in Tavira, a gigantic cultural event that this month encompasses four concerts of Portuguese music in the Palácio da Galeria park (Orquestra do Algarve with Amor Electro, on the 9th, Helder Moutinho, on the 16th, JP Simões, on the 24th , and Entre Aspas, on the 30th), film shows at the Convento do Carmo (from 02 to 12), exhibitions at the Palácio da Galeria and craft fairs (from 07 to 15) and antique and antiques fairs (from 17 to 27) at street from the pier.
In Lagos, the challenge is not to lose our attention among handicrafts and local sweets at the Algarve Traditions and Arts Fair. It will be in the urban park of Bensafrim and also brings us scavenger hunts, demonstrations of horse riding, petanque or futsal and typical games in the arena. It runs from 09 am to 11 pm and has free entry.
Let's take a look at this list: shrimp, conch, clams, barnacles, spider crab, whelk and oysters. You can already see who are the protagonists of the next event, the Seafood Festival. The best shellfish and shellfish from the Ria Formosa, prepared in a variety of ways, will be ready for tasting between August 10th and 15th. The music will be in charge of Tony Carreira, Carminho, Xutos & Pontapés, João Pedro Pais, U2UK and a new singer, who will perform at Jardim do Pescador Olhanense.
The agenda also reserves for us a religious festival in honor of Nossa Senhora da Orada, in Albufeira, with a mass at the Igreja Matriz, followed by a procession to Praia dos Pescadores, on the 14th. folklore of Faro (folkfaro), between 16 and 24. The festival returns to the dock of Faro with groups from various countries and continents to color the city with dancing, singing and folk costumes. The opening gala is on the 16th, at Teatro das Figuras.
And between the 16th and 25th, it will be time for Fatacil, one of the most important generalist events in the south of the country. In addition to handicrafts and traditional products, there will be music at the Parque de Feiras e Exposições de Lagoa, with Entre Aspas, The Gift, Herman José and Orchestra, José Cid, Vol. 2/Os Azeitonas, Miguel Gameiro, Emanuel, Expensive Soul, João Pedro Pais and Pedro Abrunhosa, anyway, in that order.
From Lagoa to Castro Marim, we depart for four days and four nights of the Middle Ages: the Medieval Days will take the town back to a time inhabited by kings and queens, nobles, monks, fearless knights and monsters. Between 22 and 25, at the castle and in the village of Castro Marim, the evenings will be animated with tournaments, traditional games, street animations and execution of period tasks.
To regain strength after so much excitement, there's nothing better than a gastronomic event to fill your belly with the flavors of the sea. The Percebe Festival takes place from the 23rd to the 25th in Vila do Bispo and its protagonist is the Percebe, as the name indicates. But he won't be alone at the table: limpets, burgers, mussels and fried moray eel are other varieties present at the event.
The poster of the month closes in great style, with the news of the return of the Noite Branca de Loulé, on the 31st of August.
All these moments of entertainment are integrated in the brochure «Algarve with Events» which aims to bring together the programming of Municipal Councils and other entities in the Algarve in a pocket-sized guide that will facilitate the search of those looking for what there is to do in the region. The brochure can be found at tourist offices in the Algarve and is available for download at www.visitalgarve.pt.
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