Let us help you to plan your perfect 2011 Algarve Holiday!
To help you to plan your 2011 Algarve holiday here are some key dates you may want to bear in mind:
The first one is Carnaval which will be a little later than usual on March 8th..this means that the days for the Algarve carnivals in 2011 will be from Saturday 5th March to Tuesday 8th March. The biggest carnivals are in Loulé and Quarteira but they take place across the Algarve from Sagres to Vila Real with a special mention for the village of Alte - it may only be a small village but they know how to carnival!
To save you getting your diaries out, Easter is also a little later and Good Friday 2011 falls on April 22nd.
On Easter Sunday (24th April) the Flower Torch Parade will take place in São Brás de Alportel and in Loulé the beginning of the celebrations 'Feast of the Sovereign Mother', the patron saint of Loulé. Thousands of people come to see the procession and join in what is known as the “Festa Pequena”, the small feast. The 'Festa Grande' takes place 2 weeks later. (The Monday after Easter is not a holiday in Portugal).
May 1st is Labour Day and I mention it because it is one day that we always get caught out with the supermarkets closing as on other bank holidays they open until at least 1pm but, certainly in the last few years, they have closed all day on May 1st!
The rest of the Portugal bank holidays for 2011 are:
April 25th - Liberation Day, June 10th - Portugal Day, June 23rd -Corpus Christie, August 15th - Assumption Day, October 5th - Republic Day, November 1st - All Saints, December 1st - Restoration of Independence Day, December 8th - Immaculate Conception , December 25th - Christmas Day.
You may want to plan your Algarve holiday to catch a particular event so although we can't guarantee exact dates as they are only announced the previous month these are some of the main events that have taken place regularly and we assume they will happen again in 2011!
- Paderne Medieval Festival at the beginning of January (usually starts on 1st)
- WRC Portugal Rally (usually May)
- Festival Med world music festival in Loulé towards the end of June
- Al-buhera festival in Albufeira (music and entertainment from around the world) around 3rd week in July
- Sounds of the Atlantic music Festival at Senhora da Rocha at the beginning of August
- Portimão Sardine Festival and Olhão Seafood Festival both of which are around the 2nd week in August with live music every night as well as sardines and seafood!
- Surf Fest at Sagres at beginning of August
- Silves Medieval Festival around the 2nd week in August
- Castro Marim medieval festival at the end of August
This is just highlighting a few of the popular events that we get asked about but rest assured there is always plenty going on in the Algarve all year round!
We have "events" pages on each of our resort guides as well as a weekly update on our Algarve Events page - so keep checking!