1. Madeira Rum Festival in Funchal – 14 to 18 April 2026
The post-Easter season begins with one of Madeira’s most distinctive cultural events. Between 14 and 18 April 2026, Funchal hosts the Madeira Rum Festival, celebrating the island’s long-standing sugarcane and distillation heritage.
Set along the seafront promenade, the event brings together local producers who showcase traditional agricultural rum through tastings, workshops, and live demonstrations. Visitors can explore the evolution of rum production on the island while enjoying a lively atmosphere enhanced by music and regional cuisine. This festival offers an authentic introduction to Madeira’s identity, rooted in centuries of agricultural tradition.

2. Viva Cidade Festival – 16 to 18 April 2026
Running concurrently with the rum celebrations, the Viva Cidade Festival adds a contemporary cultural layer to Funchal. Taking place from 16 to 18 April 2026, the event transforms various parts of the city into open-air stages.
Concerts, street performances, and artistic installations create a dynamic urban environment that contrasts with Madeira’s more traditional festivals. The event attracts a diverse audience and provides visitors with an opportunity to experience the island’s modern creative scene alongside its historic charm.

3. EXPOTROPICAL – 23 to 26 April 2026
Between 23 and 26 April 2026, Madeira’s capital hosts EXPOTROPICAL, an event dedicated to gastronomy, local products, and regional innovation.
This exhibition highlights the island’s agricultural richness, featuring tropical fruits, regional delicacies, and culinary presentations. Visitors can engage with producers, discover local flavors, and gain insight into Madeira’s evolving food culture. The event also serves as a meeting point for businesses and visitors, combining leisure with a broader cultural and economic perspective.

4. Madeira Flower Festival – 30 April to 24 May 2026
The highlight of Madeira’s spring calendar is the internationally renowned Flower Festival, running from 30 April to 24 May 2026. During this period, Funchal and other parts of the island are transformed into elaborate floral displays, reflecting the abundance of spring.
Key moments include the Allegorical Flower Parade, where decorated floats move through the city accompanied by performers in vibrant costumes, and the symbolic Wall of Hope ceremony, which emphasizes themes of peace and renewal. Streets are adorned with intricate flower carpets, while concerts and cultural performances take place throughout the city.
This festival represents the essence of Madeira in spring, combining natural beauty with artistic expression and community participation.

5. Madeira Classic Car Revival – May 2026
Integrated into the Flower Festival program, the Madeira Classic Car Revival takes place in May 2026, adding a unique historical dimension to the celebrations.
Vintage vehicles are displayed and paraded through Funchal, often decorated with floral arrangements that align with the broader festival theme. The event blends elegance, nostalgia, and creativity, offering visitors a distinctive visual experience that complements the island’s seasonal festivities.

As events are spread across Funchal and extend to different parts of the island, transportation plays an important role in ensuring a smooth visit. For a convenient and reliable experience, travelers can arrange airport transfers in advance via Madeira Airport Transfers or explore the island at their own pace with a rental from Funchal Car Hire for high quality services and unforgettable moments!

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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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If the first half of May in Madeira is occupied by the Worker’s Day, the Sao Tiago Menor Festival, classic auto shows and the Lemon festival, let’s see where we can go and what can we do in Madeira next:

If we celebrated lemons, it was only fair to celebrate other fruits and vegetables, so that they don’t feel neglected. Therefore, in Canico, between the 13th and 17th of May, you are invited to the Festa da Cebola, the Onion Festival. The onion may look a bit trivial from the outside, but in fact it plays an important role in the agriculture in Madeira. The festival celebrates onions and the farmers who grow and sell them in a display of parades, flowers and music. Food and drink are also provided, making it a most popular event!

If the month started so well, with a day off, continued so fun, with so many festivals and entertainment, it was only logical to end with another great celebration: the Funchal Cathedral Festivals, or Festas da Se, typical street parties; in Madeira, they are called arreial. The streets are festively decorated and the local restaurants and taverns offer a wide variety of traditional dishes and beverages. Entertainment virtually never ends and the celebrations continue well into summer.

With Madeira car rental or Madeira transfers, you can enjoy the best transport options on the Island and take part in all the lively events organized here and more. There are tours you can explore, museums to see and the lovely Funchal city to visit!

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The month of May begins with a day off, as the entire world celebrates the International Workers’ Day on the 1st of May. But in Madeira, the partying and the celebration never stops. In fact, even on this day, if you are in Madeira, you have an alternative choice: you can join the Sao Tiago Menor Festival, where music and fun is in store for the old town procession celebrating the patron saint of the Island of Madeira.

Lemons crowd Madeira and fill it with its scent. The Lemon Festival (or Festa do Limao), held in Santana between the 9th and 10th of May, is an annual celebration which offers farmers the opportunity to present their products and boast with their 90 tonnes of lemon production, a quarter of the island’s total. For those of you less inclined towards agriculture and more interested in cars, the same dates is when the Belmond Reid’s Palace Classic Auto Show takes place, a beautiful display of the most wonderful vintage cars on the island.

How about some music? Some… loud music, to enjoy the vivid Island life? On the 10th of May, Ribeira Brava hosts the Regional Brass Band Meeting, another yearly event that honors the importance of traditional music through the participation of several Philharmonic Houses.

A tour around the Island of Madeira or a walk around the Laurisilva forest is another “event” in itself, and that is always available and advisable in May. For this, you can always book a Madeira airport transfer or Madeira tour online.

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Madeira is part of the Macaronesian region, a particularly biodiverse habitat that exhibits an outstanding wildlife and spectacular endemic species of flora and fauna.

Madeira is an island of flowers – there is even the Festival of Flowers celebrated annually on the Island. The Laurisilva Forest with its wonderful levada paths harbors much of the flora species, abounding in large trees, most of which belong to the family of Lauraceae, the Madeira laurel (or Laurus novocanariensis), the barbusano (Apollonias barbujana), as well as lily of the valley trees ( by their scientific name, Clethra arborea).

Under the cover of the large, protective trees, there is a vast shrubbery: tree heather, cornelian cherries, Madeira blueberry (or Vaccinium padifolium). With the air quite moist and light selectively penetrating the deep forest of the Laurisilva, there are lots of mosses and lichens.

When it comes to animals, Madeira Island also displays a considerable fauna, mostly made up of invertebrates and endemic insects. The Madeiran Large White is an extremely rare endemic butterfly, around 5-6 cm big, white with specks of black. Birds abound on the island, some delighting people with their song, others with their grace. There are three endemic species: Zino’s petrel, the Madeira firecrest and the Trocaz pigeon.

Sealife is predominant when we refer to mammals. Therefore, we speak of whales, dolphins, seals, but also bats as the main inhabitants of the island. The grey long-eared bat has made the island its home, while the deep waters of the Atlantic are populated by the Mediterranean Monk Seal (Monachus monachus, endangered species), the North Atlantic Right Whale (Eubalaena glacialis) and the Bottlenose Dolphin.

A Madeira Island tour will give you a glimpse of the earthly paradise that is home to these outstanding species!

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In the following lines, let us catch up on the most interesting and exciting Madeira Events in June 2014:

The Atlantic Festival (or Festival do Atlântico) is held annually in Funchal and basically marks the beginning of summer with an explosive show of colour, energy and colourful fireworks. Unique shows and grand concerts, coupled with the warm and familiar atmosphere of Madeira attracts thousands of tourists from all around the world. This year, the fesitival is held on 7, 14, 21 and 28 June. You are all welcome to join in all the fun and breathe all the magic!

Madeira Events in June 2014

Festa da Cereja (which translates into the Cherry Festival) is next on your schedule of Madeira Events this June on 14 and 15 June! The event is held in Camara de Lobos, Jardim da Serra, and the guest of honor is the irresistibly sweet flavor of cherries. Differents sorts of cherries that bloom and give fruit in June are being grown in the rich soil of Madeira. There is a parade, music and plenty of entertainment, and while you’re dancing to the happy rhythms of Madeira, don’t forget to take a sip of ginjinha, Morello cherries liqueur!

The Feast of all Saints is present in Madeira, Portugal as well, in the form of Festa dos Santos Populares, held every June in honour of the patron saints São Joao (the patron of Porto Santo, honored with candle-lit balloons) e São Pedro (protector of all fishermen) and Santo Antonio (a Portuguese homologous of Saint Valentine, protector of love and marriages). This is the opportunity for the Portuguese to show both their mystical and happy side, as religious celebrations are welcomed with a general sense of liveliness and joy. The celebration lasts for over 2 weeks, starting on June 12th.

Volta a Madeira – Classic Rally is an amazing opportunity to cultivate your passion for vintage cars. The cars are stationed along Avenida Arriaga and can be admired and photographed before the actual rally begins in Funchal to Camara de Lobos, crossing beautiful Machico and traversing Santana over 400 km of spectacular landscapes of the island, the Ocean, forest and mountains. If you are into new cars and transportation is a luxury you can’t deprive yourself of, you could look into renting a car, a very popular option for tourists who travel to Madeira.

These are only a few of the amazing Madeira Events in June. All we can encourage you to do is get a plane ticket and fly here to meet us! And if you need a transfer from the airport of Madeira, you can count on us!

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