Every year during the first two weeks of September, at the time of the harvest throughout the island, Madeira celebrates its Wine Festival, which is set to be held from August 25 to September 15 this year.

The Madeira Promotion Bureau plans to prolong the summer celebrations in view of Madeira Wine Festival, which is set to take place from August 25 to September 15. 

A popular tourist destination, Madeira, a Portuguese archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, is located off the northwest coast of Africa and offers a blend of tradition, innovation, and natural beauty in its many attractions. 

Famed for its namesake Madeira wine, which has been around for centuries, Madeira’s wineries speak of the island’s rich viticultural heritage.

According to press statement by the board, the wine festival, which draws both visitors and residents, honours a field that is very significant to the Madeira people, who take great pride in their 400-year history of wine production. 

The board says that the wine festival is a symbolic ethnographic and cultural event that takes place on the island at the end of the summer during the grape harvest season.

It celebrates the high quality wine that Madeira is famed for producing. According to the boared, there is a lot happening during the festival, as locals and tourists mix in a wonderful celebration of the island’s famous and precious wine.

The board adds that the festival is celebrated all over the island and events take place both in the streets of the island’s capital, Funchal, as well as in the vineyards and wine cellars of its rural regions. 

The board adds that this festival will see the establishment of the Madeira Wine Lounge at Praça do Povo park, where guests will be welcomed in a more cosmopolitan and contemporary environment to sample some of Madeira’s finest wines as well as thematic dinners inspired by the flavours and wines of each wine-producing municipality. 

It says that this area will also have a stage where guests are entertained with a host of musical performances and entertainment from regional music groups of different genres. 

The statement adds that the lounge is set up to present the Madeira Wine Region to tourists and locals alike, enabling them to deepen their knowledge of Madeira wine, including the Madeirense or Terras Madeirenses which are protected by geographical indications as well as Madeiran whites, reds, rosés and sparkling wines  from cultivation to bottling.

The statement adds that Madeira Wine Lounge is split into five specific areas, including Madeira Wine Producers, with an emphasis on tasting Madeira’s wines and liqueurs, an area dedicated to gastronomy, where guests can sample the delicious delicacies of chef, Júlio Pereira, an area dedicated to live music and DJ’s, an area dedicated to the ‘Madeira Wine Cycle’, organised by the Madeira Wine, Embroidery and Handicrafts Institute, and another new prime location area which is dedicated to the ‘Celebration of Madeira Wines’ and will include wine masterclasses and talks with the producers in attendance.

Among other highlights of the Madeiran Wine Festival are the 19th European Folklore Week, from August 25 to 29, the Wine Harvest Festival on September 7 which delves into gastronomic elements and great musical entertainment by various regional and national bands.