1. XXXVIII Madeira Music Festival
This distinguished festival, reactivated in 2024 after a nine-year break, will feature performances by the Madeira Classical Orchestra as well as notable national and international musicians.
Concerts are scheduled on March 16, 21, 22, 23, 28, and 29, 2025 at various locations throughout Madeira.

2. Craftsmen’s Week
From March 17 to 22, 2025, the Madeira Wine, Embroidery and Handicrafts Institute (IVBAM) will celebrate “World Craftsmen’s Day” with a multidisciplinary program highlighting Madeira’s traditional arts and crafts.
The festival showcases regional artisans as representatives of Madeira’s cultural heritage.

3. Thematic Gastronomic Fair
On March 20, 2025, a gastronomy expo will be organized to allow regional craftspeople to showcase their culinary masterpieces.
This weekly event, conducted on Thursdays, allows guests to sample the exquisite flavors of Madeira’s cuisine.

4. Madeira Roller Marathon
This speed skating event, scheduled for March 23, 2025, will feature 100-meter sprints as well as four marathon categories: nano (800 meters), micro (2 kilometers), mini (12.8 kilometers) and full marathon (42.195 kilometers).
It’s a fascinating experience for both competitors and onlookers.

5. The Sugarcane Fair
The Sugarcane Fair will be held on March 29 and 30, 2025, in Canhas, Ponta do Sol, to honor Madeira’s sugarcane industry.
Visitors can sample several sugarcane products and learn about how important this crop is to the island’s economy.

These events offer a look of Madeira‘s thriving cultural landscape during this time.
Enjoy these special events and activities with your family and friends, always using Madeira Airport Transfer, which provide excellent and reliable taxi services whenever and wherever you need!

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Madeira is famous for its all year round summer climate, fauna and flora, exquisite cuisine, astonishing touristic attractions, but maybe you didn’t know that it’s also famous for its spectacular embroidery tradition and impacting profound handicraft.

Despite its isolated location, Madeira has maintained a good cultural autonomy.
This is reflected in the language and in traditions that have learned to deal with the combination of different elements coming from various countries who have accepted Madeira´s emigrants.
Madeira´s crafts are of great importance to the economy of the region. You can admire the art of embroidery and weaving in many of Madeira´s villages and discover its charm by visiting the The Madeira Wine, Embroidery and Handicraft Institute, settled in the old headquarters of the Madeira Embroidery Industrial Association, opened in 1958, by the architect Fabrício Rodrigues.

The Museological Center of the Institute of Wine, Embroidery and Handicrafts of Madeira (IVBAM) is a space dedicated to the history and culture of Madeira Embroidery, seeking to recreate the romantic atmosphere of a house on the island of Madeira, paying homage to a secular art and offering the visitor a display of pieces produced over 150 years.
The museum center contains pieces of furniture from the 18th and 19th centuries, Hepplewhite, Sheraton, in the Victorian style. It also brings together a collection consisting of pieces of Madeira Embroidery, produced between the 1960s and the 1930s.
The Madeira Embroidery is one of the world’s best and was often purchased by royal houses of Europe over the past 100 years. The secret is in the plight of the designs and the high quality of the parts that only receive the guild seal of Madeira Embroidery Institute after rigorous inspections.

One of the driving forces behind this activity was Miss Phelps. She was the daughter of an English merchant, who came to Madeira in mid 1850. Impressed by the manual ability of local women, taught them the techniques of broderie anglaise. Quickly assimilated these teachings, Miss Phelps sent some of the first pieces to England, and then rained down orders. She started up a new art on the island.
The Madeira embroiderers were so competent and original that three decades later they had imposed a style that would become known as madere broderie. Embroideries brought a new source of income for thousands of families. In 1906 there were 30,000 embroiderers in rural areas, which joined the two thousands of professional embroiderers in Funchal. Most of the work was done at home, with the final finishes made in Funchal factories.

The World War I, the appearance of other foreign companies competing for the place of the lucrative German companies and the Americans of Syrian origin who came to dominate the industry, flooding the world market with low-quality cushion covers, led to a negative effect on the image of Madeira Embroidery and decreased sales between 1916 and 1925.

In 1925, two American entrepreneurs, Charlie Rolland and Leo Behrens invested in the recovery of the Madeira Embroidery quality. They created the Imperial Linens Company and introduced new techniques inspired by the embroidery of other European countries such as Italy, Switzerland, Spain and France. They introduced new motifs and designs taking as model the flowers and other plants of Madeira and added feathers, shells, marine motifs and scenes of daily life in Funchal. Thanks to this renovation, it was born the Madeira embroidery as we know it today. One of the most famous pieces of the Imperial Linens Company was the tablecloth Princess Grace, designed by the talented German designer Herman Klein, at the wedding of actress Grace Kelly to Prince Rainier of Monaco.

The art of craftsmanship is a special one, as unique handmade pieces of art are forged out of imagination, love, dreaming and beauty.

The wickers grow in wet valleys near streams, in places like Camacha, Santo da Serra, São Vicente, Faial and São Jorge. The sticks are cut close to the ground in the first months of the year and put into water to germinate. After peeled and left to dry, they are ready to be worked. The craftsmanship of the lintel has secular traditions on the island.

An example is the conical baskets used to transport the grape, called barraleiros. However, the manufacture of wicker furniture only began in the nineteenth century. The industry wickerwork started in Camacha around 1850, when many English families living there had their cottages. William Hinton brought Italy furniture and asked local craftsmen to take that as a model. They proved to be perfect in this art and soon they began to sell furniture and rattan cane to the top hotels in Funchal and export to Germany and England.

Currently the Camacha parish continues to be the center of this activity. If you pass the Clock Coffee “Cafe Relogio” can see skilled craftsmen dedicated to their work. Among the artifacts produced are chairs, tables, baskets, baskets, animal sculptures, shelving and more. Many of these parts are exported to the United States, South Africa, Canada and Italy.

This is magical piece of heaven with a volatile atmosphere, surrounded by unique pieces of authentic pure art made by the hands of very talented people.

If you want to discover this rich unique culture and if you want to admire this remarkable art, Madeira is the greatest place for this! Discover this mesmerizing place, always counting on Funchal Airport Transfers or Madeira car hire for beautiful adventures and unforgettable memories!

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For the 26th time, Madeira will be hosting again this year, at the end of June, the Madeira Classic Rally (Volta à Madeira), a famous classic and vintage automobile race event, where the participants have to overcome 400 km of dangerous mountainous​ roads in order to finish the race. The rally is usually held in a few stages, from Funchal to Câmara de Lobos, then beautiful Machico and Santana, allowing the participants to admire Madeira’s fascinating landscapes.

The first day of July represents the Day of the Autonomous Region of Madeira and Madeiran Communities. The anniversary of the political Autonomy of Madeira is celebrated with various ceremonies in the centre of Funchal and throughout the region. Come and enjoy the fireworks and parades and be part of this anniversary party, filled with joy and pride!

Another exciting event to come is the 24 hours Dancing Folklore Festival, which is a Regional Folklore event held in Santana, where groups from many regions of Madeira and other countries are invited to perform during a 24-hour period. This festival aims for fostering and promoting the cultural heritage and the culinary traditions of this emblematic municipality of the northern Madeira island, held on July, 6th and 7th.

Between 19th and 21st of July, the village of Madalena do Mar, in the municipality of Ponta do Sol, pays tribute to one of its most important and best known products, which is also one of the main regional agricultural productions, the Banana Exhibit (Mostra Regional de Banana). This festival serves to promote the banana production and it is acknowledged as a major cultural event. Visitors can enjoy the most interesting activities, banana sampling and traditional treats.

There are so many events you can attend and enjoy this summer and you can always count on Madeira Transfers, if you want to use reliable, easy and fast taxi services. Furthermore, if you want to discover Madeira’s beauties and marvels, you can always book a sightseeing tour or a hiking trail guide for infinite adventures and unforgettable memories!

If you just want to be your personal holiday architect, you can just hire a car to drive it yourself whenever and wherever you want, enjoying full insurance and advantageous offers, only with Funchal Car Hire!

Come and visit Madeira! You will be charmed by this mesmerizing island, which is waiting impatiently to astonish you!

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