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Festivals and village feasts in Calheta

Every parish in Calheta has its saint, and every saint has a feast. Summer weekends bring processions over carpets of flowers, brass bands, espetada grilled on laurel sticks and bolo do caco.

What to expect

A Madeiran arraial

A village feast (arraial) usually runs over a weekend. Streets are decorated with flags and lights, the procession carries the saint over carpets of flowers and coloured sawdust, and the local philharmonic band plays. Then the stalls open: beef espetada grilled on bay-laurel skewers, warm bolo do caco with garlic butter, and laranjada, Madeira’s orange soda.

The feasts of Nossa Senhora do Loreto in Arco da Calheta and Nossa Senhora da Graça in Estreito da Calheta are the best known, and the municipal holiday on 24 June is Calheta’s own day.

Calendar

Feasts month by month

WhenFeastWhere
15 JanuarySanto AmaroPaul do Mar
18 JanuarySanto Antão, with the blessing of animalsPrazeres
3 FebruarySão BrásArco da Calheta
AprilFesta da Cana-de-Açúcar (Sugar Cane Festival)Calheta town
MayEspírito SantoCalheta town
First Sunday of JuneEspírito SantoLoreto, Arco da Calheta
13 JuneSanto AntónioRaposeira, Fajã da Ovelha
24 JuneDia do Concelho (municipal holiday) and São JoãoFajã da Ovelha, Lombo do Atouguia
JuneMarchas Populares, Santíssimo Sacramento, São PedroVarious; São Pedro in Ponta do Pargo
JulyEspírito SantoArco da Calheta
5 AugustNossa Senhora das NevesPrazeres
15 AugustNossa Senhora da GraçaEstreito da Calheta
AugustNossa Senhora do AmparoPonta do Pargo
Last Sunday of AugustSão Francisco XavierLombo do Salão
8 SeptemberNossa Senhora do LoretoArco da Calheta
SeptemberFesta do Pêro (apple festival) and Festa dos TabuleirosPonta do Pargo
SeptemberNossa Senhora do Bom Sucesso, Nossa Senhora dos Bons CaminhosVarious
7 OctoberNossa Senhora do RosárioJardim do Mar
OctoberEncontro de Grupos Corais (choir meeting)Calheta
Last Sunday of OctoberCristo ReiLombo do Doutor
8 DecemberNossa Senhora da ConceiçãoAmoreiras

Dates follow the municipality’s published calendar; feasts without a fixed date move with the weekend. Ask locally or at the tourist office for the year’s programme.

Two to look for

Sugar cane and apples

Festa da Cana-de-Açúcar. In April, as the Engenho da Calheta starts grinding the year’s cane, the town celebrates the crop that made it rich, with mel de cana, rum and music.Festa dos Tabuleiros and Festa do Pêro. In mid-September Ponta do Pargo chooses a young “regent” couple who collect offerings from every house. The gifts are carried in procession from Cruz do Salão at five in the afternoon, set on trays (tabuleiros) decorated with images of St Anthony and paper flowers, and auctioned for the church. The same month the parish celebrates its apples at the Festa do Pêro. More about the parish in Ponta do Pargo.
Island-wide

What else is on

For concerts, markets and feasts across the whole island, see the weekly events calendar at Madeira Blog.

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