If you're here in the Algarve this weekend, Portugal marks 52 years since the Carnation Revolution on Saturday with brass bands, raised flags and red carnations in every lapel! PLUS there are free concerts, the 12th Spring Showcase, a Walking Festival and MORE!
Friday 24 April
FESTIVALS & CULTURE
12th Mostra da Primavera (Spring Showcase) — Downtown Tavira, from morning — Day 1 of the region's biggest spring celebration of Mediterranean Diet producers. 120 exhibitors.
Walking Festival Ameixial — Ameixial, Serra do Caldeirão, Loulé — Day 1 of the Algarve's oldest hiking festival.
Alte Cultural Week — Opening — Alte village, Loulé — Nine days of folklore, accordion, fado, poetry, and traditional games kick off tonight.
MUSIC
Concert with Bárbara Tinoco (April 25 Celebrations) — Silves, evening, free — One of Portugal's biggest young pop artists opens the Silves Freedom Day programme.
Algarve Camarata with Jubilate Deo Choir — São Brás de Alportel, evening — Classical concert honouring April 25 in an intimate chamber setting.
New Memories of the Revolution (April 25 Celebration) — Portimão and Faro — Multi-venue concert reinterpreting revolutionary songs for a new generation.
THEATRES & DANCE
Carnation Dance — Lagos, evening, free — Opening night of the city's April 25 programme with street dance performance.
New Portuguese Letters — Cine-Teatro Louletano, Loulé — Staging of the iconic 1972 feminist text, banned under the dictatorship.— Faro area — Guided nature experience on the Ria Formosa lagoon.
Saturday 25 April
FESTIVALS & CULTURE
52nd Anniversary — 25 April Celebrations (nationwide) — Official ceremonies, free concerts, and civic parades in Lagos, Tavira, Silves, Monchique, São Brás, Portimão, VRSA, and more.
12th Mostra da Primavera — Day 2 — Downtown Tavira — Busiest day with D'Dance Cia. performing "Revolução" and strolling accordionists all afternoon.
Walking Festival Ameixial — Day 2 — Serra do Caldeirão — Main hiking day.
MARKETS & FAIRS
Mercado de Loulé (covered market) — Loulé centre, 07:00–15:00 — The Algarve's most iconic market hall. Flowers, spring vegetables, fresh fish.
MUSIC & PERFORMANCE
Voices of Freedom by the Lagos Light Orchestra — Centro Cultural de Lagos, evening — Anchor concert of the Lagos April 25 programme.
Domingos Caetano Sings April — Auditório Maria Barroso, Olhão, 21:30 — Olhão's musical tribute to April 25, performed by a local favourite.
The Town Sings for Freedom 2.0 — Vila Real de Santo António — Free community concert in the old town, strong eastern Algarve event.
SPORTS & OUTDOOR
Freedom Run "April 25th" — Portimão, morning — Annual freedom-themed road race, open to all levels.
Sunday 26 April
MARKETS & FAIRS
Mercado de Olhão — Olhão, 07:00–13:00 — The Algarve's finest fish market, plus the adjacent fruit and vegetable hall.
12th Mostra da Primavera — Final Day — Downtown Tavira — Last chance to pick up producers' stock before they head home. Closing performances mid-afternoon.
FESTIVALS & CULTURE
Walking Festival Ameixial — Closing Day — Serra do Caldeirão, Loulé — Morning walks plus closing lunch of traditional mountain gastronomy.
Alte Cultural Week — Folklore Day — Alte village — Folklore groups from across the region gather in the square beside the Fonte Grande spring.
MUSIC
Infinito — The Activations Process (Daniel Matos) — Teatro das Figuras, Faro — Contemporary dance closing the Matos double-bill that opened earlier in the week.
Musical Entertainment at Viv'o Mercado Market — Lagos market — Free Sunday performances inside the indoor market hall.
SPORTS & OUTDOOR
23rd Odiáxere Athletics Grand Prix — Odiáxere, Lagos, morning — Popular 10K road race through western Algarve farmland.
Hardenduro National Championship — Stage 2 — São Brás de Alportel — Technical off-road motorcycling in the Serra do Caldeirão.
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