Until the 25th of June, don´t miss the Madeira Atlantic Festival

In June, a sense of liveliness joins forces with tradition to transform the Madeira capital into an attractive and fun-filled venue where visitors are offered a series of unforgettable concerts and shows.

The Atlantic Festival, which takes place throughout the month of June, is a cultural and fun-packed event, consisting of three distinct components: the Madeira Music Festival, the International Fireworks Competition and various street performances.

Every Saturday night, there are concerts. Combined with the fireworks, these provide unique moments in which the splendour of the firework display blends harmoniously with the music to provide unique moments of happiness and colour.

The month of June thus transforms the Madeiras capital into an attractive and fun-filled venue where visitors are offered a series of unforgettable concerts and shows, not only because of their artistic and musical quality, but also because of the magical atmosphere that they provide.

Find more about at:
- http://festivaldoatlantico.visitmadeira.pt/
- http://www.visitmadeira.pt/madeira-atlantic-festival
- https://www.visitportugal.com/

Historical train: Full steam ahead in the Douro region

The Douro historical train returns between June and October 2016

Riding on the historical train is like travelling back in time.

The route runs along the bank of the river Douro, between Régua and Tua, on a unique trip back into the past through beautiful landscape that is classified by UNESCO as World Heritage.

Programme

One-day programme leaving Régua at 15:21 and returning at 18:39 with a stop at Pinhão, and then on to Tua and back. On-board entertainment with regional singers and musicians and a toast with a glass of Porto Ferreira. You can also try the Régua candies, a tradition for everyone who comes to this part of Portugal.

You can buy just the historical train trip, or you can op+t to buy a Combined Package, which includes a return trip from anywhere in the country on Alfa Pendular, Intercidades, Regional and Oporto urban trains.

This year CP is also offering the unique experience of letting one person travel in the steam engine driver's cab where you can see how everything works and take photos.

Dates and times for the 2016 edition:

-Saturdays, between 4 June and 22 October 2016-Sundays, between 3 July and 25 Sptember 2016

-Wednesdays, between 3 and 31 August 2016

-Monday, 15 August 2016.

• Outward: Régua 15:21>Tua 16:40
• Return: Tua 17:24> Régua 18:39

Prices

Historical train (Régua - Tua)

Includes: Historical train journey Régua/Tua and back.

June, July and October

• Adult €37,50
• Children €17 (5 to 12 years old inclusive)

August and September

• Adult €42,50
• Children €19 (5 to 12 years old inclusive)

Packs (Historical train + journeys all over the country – return) : Please check the prices on the CP website here.

Information and bookings

• Ticket offices
• Online ticket office
• Customer care line (707 210 220)
• Requests for information: cohistorico@cp.pt

The combined packages are only sold at ticket offices up to 60 days in advance.

Tickets for the historical train only, can be bought up to 90 days in advance.

Find more information at:

- http://www.cp.pt/comboio-historico

- http://www.cp.ptguia_viagem.pdf

- https://www.visitportugal.com/Douro Line

- https://www.visitportugal.com/Douro Valley

Source: CP website

"Serralves em festa": 04-05 June 2016

Visit Oporto and take part in one of the biggest contemporary arts festivals, that offers activities for all ages and for the whole family.

During a non stop 40-hour period in June, Serralves em Festa presents hundreds of artists, in a wide array of activities in the fields of music, opera, dance, performance, theatre, new circus, literature, cinema, video, photography, workshops, guided visits and exhibitions.

The festivities aren’t confined to the premises of Serralves - they extend beyond the Foundation’s walls and inundate the streets of Oporto’s Baixa zone with street theatre, music and lively entertainment. 
Don’t miss it! 

Find more information at:
- http://www.serralves.pt/serralves-em-festa-2016
- https://www.visitportugal.com/

In Porto, don´t miss the Feasts of São João 2016

Celebrate the feasts of São João, the most revered saint of Porto, held on the night of 23rd June.

The feasts of São João, of pagan origin and associated with the celebration of the summer solstice, are marked by dancing, eating and fireworks.

From May 21st to June 26th, Porto will celebrate its “largest festivity”. One can expect six weeks of much entertainment, with initiatives all over the city that will target all generations of locals but also all of those who visit us this time of the year. 

Despite the celebrations of São João reaching its peak on the evening of 23rd to 24th June, this festival has no longer been a one-night celebration for a long time and now it lasts six weeks with many other parties, from dance balls to street parades, runs and regattas, concerts, music and circus festivals, theatre, street entertainment, and also performative arts, contests, parades, ballons launching and many activities for children. There are so many innovations that the best you can do is take a look at this programme.

After all, you don’t want to miss anything of this great festivity called São João or all the city of Porto has to offer;)

Find more information at:
- http://www.visitporto.travel/
- https://www.visitportugal.com/São João

Popular Saints’ Festivals in Portugal

June is the month of celebrations and festivities for the Popular Saints throughout the country on the nights of St. Anthony, St. John and St. Peter.

The main ones are the Festas de Lisboa, on 12 and 13 June, St. Anthony’s day, and in Porto on the night of 23/24 June when St. John (São João) is celebrated. These are enormously vivid celebrations, during which the people take to the streets eating, drinking and having fun in the old neighbourhoods, that are bedecked with arches, colourful balloons and the aroma of sweet basil.

In Lisbon, people from every neighbourhood parade down Avenida da Liberdade, filling this major road with colourful characters in costume, folk music, and throngs of spectators. But the crowds and liveliness also fill the narrow back streets, particularly in Alfama, but also Graça, Bica, Mouraria and Madragoa. In the mediaeval squares and alleyways, people eat cabbage soup and grilled sardines, singing and dancing the whole night long. Another highlight is the procession of St. Anthony, which leaves on the 13th from the church of S. António in Alfama, near the Cathedral, where the saint was born in around 1193.

The festivities are just as colourful and lively in Porto, in the more traditional neighbourhoods that include Miragaia, Fontainhas, Ribeira, and Massarelos. But Porto has other habits and customs: the old tradition was for revellers to beat each other on the head with a leek, but now they use plastic hammers; and besides the firework display at midnight on the River Douro in the centre of Porto, people also release colourful hot air balloons into the sky, making one of the most beautiful spectacles in these popular celebrations. For many, the night ends on the beach, to see the sun rise, and some still follow the tradition of taking an early morning dip in the sea.

St. Peter (São Pedro) is celebrated on 29 June, also with popular festivals in various parts of the country, such as Sintra and Évora, both on the World Heritage list. Évora, incidentally, has the distinction of celebrating two popular saints, since it has held the St. John Fair since the 16th century, one of the largest in southern Portugal, as well as celebrating the feast of St. Peter as a municipal holiday.

In all these festivals, there is also the tradition of jumping the bonfire and offering your girlfriend or boyfriend pots of aromatic basil, containing four-line verses often speaking of love, especially because these feasts are linked to the summer solstice and ancient fertility rites.

Find more information at:
- http://www.portolazer.pt/programa-sao-joao-2016
- http://festasdelisboa.com/2016/
- http://www.cm-evora.pt/feirasjoao2016/

Until June 30, don´t miss the Festivities of Lisbon 2016

With a whiff of summer in the air, the Festivities of Lisbon offer a full program of entertainment activities that will invade Lisbon’s oldest neighborhoods, luring thousands of people into the streets.

Santo António, highly respected and worshiped in Lisbon and treated as a true patron of the city, sets the mood for the festivities that reach their high-point on the evening of June 12, with the parade of popular marches along Avenida da Liberdade. On the afternoon of June 13, a procession in homage to the popular Saint - who is believed to foster marriages - winds its way through the streets around the Sé cathedral and provides a special religious flavour to the festivities.

Evenings are animated by traditional festivities in Lisbon’s oldest neighborhoods - from Castelo to Mouraria, Graça, Alfama, Ajuda and the Bairro Alto - with lots of music and dance to the rhythm of popular songs. Decorated with coloured globes and garlands, the city’s streets are invaded by the smell of roasted sardines and sweet basil accompanied by paper carnations and paintings that allude to Santo António.

June is the main month of these festivities, but they also extend throughout the summer, including a wide variety of events such as fado, jazz and other musical performances, fado in the city’s trams, cinema and theater festivals, sports events and exhibitions.

You can download the program of  "Festas de Lisboa" here (only in Portuguese)

Find more information at:
- http://festasdelisboa.com/
- https://www.facebook.com/festasdelisboa
- https://www.instagram.com/festasdelisboa/
- https://www.visitportugal.com/festas-de-lisboa
- http://www.visitlisboa.com/

Lisbon welcomes yet another airline: Ural Airlines arrives from Moscow

On 1 May, Lisbon Airport welcomed Ural Airlines, a Russian airline that will complement the direct connection between Lisbon and Moscow, until now exclusively operated by TAP Portugal. This diversification of options for passengers demonstrates the growing connectivity of Lisbon Airport.

The flight, on an Airbus 320, is scheduled for Thursdays and Sundays, arriving at Lisbon at 11:50 a.m. and leaving at 12:50 p.m.. 

To celebrate the arrival of this new airline, the passengers and crew on the inaugural flight were welcomed on their arrival at Lisbon with the traditional “baptism” given to the new aircraft by the firefighters at the airport and, at departure, they were presented with pastéis de nata, the Portuguese custard pastries enjoyed the world over.

For more information and reservations visit the airline's website www.uralairlines.com​


Source: ANA Aeroportos de Portugal S.A