1 — The Big One
Portimão’s 363rd São Martinho fair opens — go before the storm does
The Feira de S. Martinho traces its roots to 1662, and the 363rd edition fills the Parque de Feiras from Fri Nov 6 to Sun Nov 15. Entry is free. Opening night runs 16:00–01:00, Saturday 10:00–01:00, then 10:00–24:00 from Sunday to Thursday. Come hungry: farturas, hot pão com chouriço, roast chestnuts, sweet potatoes and grilled octopus in the tasquinhas, then the bumper cars and the stalls of alguidares and tea towels nobody admits to buying. Wed Nov 11 is youth day, with special prices at the stands that sign up. The car show at the Portimão Arena opens 16:00–24:00 on Friday and Saturday. My advice: Friday night or Saturday. Sunday to Tuesday is forecast as a washout.
2 — The One Nobody’s Told You About
Free bonsai workshop in Lagoa — and you take the tree home
Sítio das Fontes, the nature park outside Estômbar, is running its second bonsai day with Mediterranean species on Sun Nov 8, 10:00–17:00. The workshop covers pruning, wiring, repotting, watering, pests and soils, plus a talk about Mediterranean ecosystems and the invasive species that crowd them out. At the end every participant leaves with a tree they’ve worked on. It’s free, but there are only 10 places, registration is compulsory, and they’re confirmed in order of sign-up — so register today, not Saturday. Missed out? There’s an exhibition of trees during the day that’s open to everyone. Sunday is the wettest day of the week (36 mm forecast); the page doesn’t say whether it’s indoors, so bring boots.
3 — Not An Event
Get outside by Saturday lunch — then 73 mm of storm in three days
This week has a hard edge in the middle. Fri Nov 6 is dry and overcast at 21°C, wind 17 km/h, sea flat at 0.7 m and 17.8°C. Saturday stays at 21°C with a 28% chance of a light shower. Then the models line up thunderstorms for Sun Nov 8 to Tue Nov 10: 36 mm, 25 mm and 12.5 mm, wind peaking at 39 km/h on Monday and the swell building to 3.6–4.0 m. Wednesday still has showers (9.5 mm). By Thu Nov 12 it’s down to drizzle at 21°C, the wind drops to 10 km/h on Friday, and the sea is still 18°C. So: coast and fair on Friday and Saturday, theatre and kitchen from Sunday to Tuesday, and the Monchique waterfalls on Thursday, when they’ll be loud.
• New EN125 link into Portimão — a €700,000 junction by Nova Vila Retail Park opened Nov 3, bypassing the hospital bottleneck. Portugal Resident
• Portimão wants residents’ views — in English too — bilingual tourism-strategy surveys are open until November 13. Portugal Resident
• Hospital tests may slip Nov 19–20 — diagnostic and therapeutic technicians strike both days; a public-administration strike joins on the 20th. Portugal Resident
This is a front-loaded week, so plan it that way. Friday and Saturday are the dry days: walk the Alvor boardwalks, eat farturas at the São Martinho fair in Portimão, and catch Pedra Dura’s free Final Girl in Lagos before Vera Mantero’s thirty-year-old solo at the Centro Cultural. From Sunday the storms take over, and that is when you sit inside a bonsai workshop in Lagoa, or order the venison at the Vila Vita Biergarten in Porches. The Rotax karting world finals run at the kartódromo all week, and the Subida Impossível in Silves goes up its 80% slope on Sunday if the weather lets it. Once the rain clears, the Monchique waterfalls and Wednesday’s magusto at the Lagos market are your reward. Register for the bonsai today.
— Nicolas
| Fri 6 | Sat 7 | Sun 8 | Mon 9 | Tue 10 | Wed 11 | Thu 12 | Fri 13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ☁️~21° | 🌦️~21° | ⛈️~22° | ⛈️~21° | ⛈️~20° | 🌧️~19° | 🌦️~21° | 🌦️~21° |
| São Martinho · Liz Consort · Grief in Progress · Dilatação | Final Girl · Vera Mantero · Rotax · Passadiços | Bonsai · Subida Impossível · Duo Lundú | Storm peak | Game Season | Magusto · Youth day | Cascatas · Wine Forum · Tesouros | SECO + HURLE · Mad Roller Disco · Pre-finals |
Sat Nov 7 · 21:00 · ticketed (BOL / CCL desk)
Vera Mantero’s 1996 Josephine Baker solo, then Clara Andermatt
“uma misteriosa Coisa, disse o e.e. cummings” premiered at the Culturgest in January 1996 as a homage to Josephine Baker, and it’s one of the landmark solos of Portuguese dance. Twenty minutes, M/12. After a 10-minute interval comes Andermatt’s 15-minute “O Cansaço dos Santos”: religious icons, intense physicality. The price isn’t visible to us on BOL; check at the CCL desk.
Sat Nov 7 · 19:00 · free, collect a ticket
Final Girl — a clown directs a horror-film dance solo
Dancer Rina Marques asked clown and director Rui Paixão to make her a solo for public space, and they started from the horror-film “final girl”, the last one standing. Free tickets are handed out from 30 minutes before, so be there at 18:30. It finishes in time for dinner before Mantero.
Fri Nov 6 · 21:00 · access terms TBA
Grief in Progress — Bullyache opens Pedra Dura’s weekend
The first show of the festival’s big weekend, in the old prison that is now the LAC. Age rating and access terms are still “to be announced” on the listing; check before you go. ANTERA’s Delíria follows at 21:30.
Fri Nov 6 · 21:00 · €10
Dilatação — five young performers stretch their short pieces
DeVIR/CAPa invited trainees from its 2026 advanced performing-arts programme to grow the short works they made on the course into a full evening of theatre and dance. It’s a rare look at who’s coming up in the Algarve’s own scene, and €10 is fair for it.
Fri Nov 13 · from 21:00 · ticketed (BOL)
SECO + HURLE — Pedra Dura’s Friday double bill
Bernardo Chatillon’s SECO (45 min, M/12) has no fixed choreography: it builds itself each night out of encounters with objects on stage. Flora Détraz’s HURLE follows at 22:00 according to the câmara. Then walk over to Campinhos for the roller disco (see Live Music).
Until Wed Dec 30 · Tue–Sat 10:00–18:00 · free
Timo Dillner’s “O Cruzeiro” — your storm-day hour
Eight years of work by a painter who has lived in Lagos since 1998, his thank-you to the town, on war, greed, technology and time. On Monday, with 39 km/h of wind outside, this is the best room in Lagos.
Thu Nov 5 – Wed Dec 30
Roommates — Ruben Bellinkx takes over two more rooms at the CCL
The festival’s visual-arts show, next door to Dillner. In the rooms alongside, CENDDA opens the Algarve dance documentation centre’s archive to the public. Do all three in one visit.
Fri Nov 6 – Wed Dec 30
Acervo Roots — fifteen years of the Roots residency
The LAC hangs work from its Roots collection, 2011–2025, ahead of this year’s Roots residency and show later in the month. The câmara title says 2011–2025, Viral Agenda says 2011–2026.
Sat Nov 7 – Thu Dec 31 · free
Urbanus-art — spray-paint dreamscapes at the market
Fernando Montero, self-taught for 25 years, works in “aerossolgrafia”, a spray-paint landscape technique born in Mexico around 1980. It’s in the market hall, so do it with the Saturday shop. No Sunday hours are listed.
Thu Nov 12 – Fri Jan 8 · opening 17:30 · free
Tesouros Entrelaçados — Treasures in Thread
Textile work built from vintage and cultural fabrics, re-dyed, layered and embroidered by hand and machine. The artist writes about growing up in a house where nothing was thrown away. The opening is Thursday at 17:30.
☀️ This Week's Trail Picks (rotation)
Fri Nov 6 or Sat Nov 7 morning
Ao Sabor da Maré — the Alvor boardwalks, before the rain
Boardwalks and sand tracks through the dune ridge between the sea and the Ria de Alvor, with the saltmarsh on one side. Flat, sheltered, bike-friendly. The freguesia’s own advice is any season except when it’s raining or blowing a gale, which rules out Sunday to Tuesday.
Sat Nov 7 · before the storm
PR3 Trilho da Fóia — the roof of the Algarve, while you can see it
A short circular at the top of the serra. Saturday is the last day with any view before the cloud comes down. Go early and take a layer.
Thu Nov 12 or Fri Nov 13 · after the storm
PR5 Percurso das Cascatas — the waterfall walk, earned
This is the walk that needs rain, and this week it gets 83 mm of it. By Thursday the drizzle is light and by Friday the wind is down to 10 km/h. Expect mud and slippery stones on a long day out.
Fri Nov 6 – Sun Nov 8 · free (register)
Walk & Art Fest — do the Friday and Saturday walks
Ninth edition: guided walks, BTT, concerts, talks and workshops in the woods and village. Activities need registration. Sunday sits under 36 mm of forecast rain; check with the organisers for changes.
Sat Nov 7 – Sat Nov 14 · Fri Nov 13 pre-finals 12:43–16:38
Rotax Grand Finals — the karting world championship comes to Portimão
A week of racing, with the official schedule putting pre-finals on Fri Nov 13 and every final on Sat Nov 14 (Senior 14:08, DD2 15:46). Viva Portimão lists the location as the churchyard in Mexilhoeira Grande, but its own text says the kartódromo; spectator access and price weren’t published on the pages I opened.
Sun Nov 8 · from 10:00
Subida Impossível — 30 riders against an 80% hill
The 23rd edition: a 110-metre slope, gradients over 80%, and riders from Portugal and Spain trying to get a motorbike to the top. There’s a mini-motocross “nursery” for kids. It’s an outdoor event on the stormiest day; check before driving up.
Sat Nov 7 – Sun Nov 8
Beach Ultimate national championships at Praia da Rocha
Frisbee on sand, the national championship. Saturday is the day to watch: Sunday’s forecast is 27 km/h wind and rain, which makes for chaotic discs.
Upcoming Races
21.1KLagos Sun Nov 15 · 09:30 · the home half, a week Sunday.
TRAILSanta Bárbara de Nexe Sun Nov 22.
São Silvestre VRSA – Monte Gordo
ROADVila Real de Sto. António Sat Dec 5.
TRAILAlcoutim Sun Dec 13.
21.1KFaro Sat Apr 10, 2027 · Praia de Faro.
Fri Nov 6 · 21:00 · free
Liz Consort — organ, soprano and flute in the Igreja Matriz
The organ festival’s second Portimão night: the Liz Consort trio (organ, soprano, flute) with Bach, Vivaldi and Seixas on the church’s 1886 Fincham organ. Free, no booking. Then walk down to the fair for a fartura.
Fri Nov 6 · 21:00
Caminhos — Afonso Dias and Dinis Dias
Afonso Dias, who set Sophia de Mello Breyner to music at the Lagos library last weekend, shares the evening with Dinis Dias. The listing gives no price; check before you go.
Sun Nov 8 · 17:00
Sons ao Crepúsculo — Duo Lundú in the village church
Joana Godinho and José Farinha play at dusk on the last day of Walk & Art. A church is a good place to be on a thunderstorm Sunday.
Fri Nov 13 · 22:30
Mad Roller Disco — Pedra Dura goes out on wheels
MAD Rollerdance with a DJ set from Pashon Froot Express, after the SECO + HURLE double bill. Drizzle is still possible that evening; bring a layer.
Wed Nov 11 · music from 17:30
Viv’o Mercado on São Martinho’s day — music and a magusto
The Wednesday market has live music from 17:30 on dates between Nov 11 and 25, and on the 11th the câmara also runs a Magusto em Lagos at the town markets. Bensafrim holds its own from 15:00. Bring coins for chestnuts.
Saturdays · from 07:30
Lagos Saturday market — go on the 7th
Local farmers with everything from olives and fruit to live chickens, 07:30 until around 13:00. We’ve printed 07:00–14:00 in past editions; this guide says 07:30 to about 13:00. Stock up on the 7th: it’s the last settled morning before four days of storm.
Daily to Mon Nov 16 · 12:30–22:00
Game Season at the Vila Vita Biergarten — your storm-day lunch
Chef Marhareta Guerreiro’s game menu: a hunter’s board for €24, saddle of venison €32, wild-boar goulash with pumpkin Spätzle €25, partridge escabeche €13, and a chestnut-and-mushroom Maultaschen for vegetarians (€19). Everything also goes as takeaway, which is the move on Monday.
Thu Nov 12 – Fri Nov 13 · from 08:30 · €40/day
Lagoa Wine Tourism Forum — buy the “Experiências” ticket
The conferences are free; the paid “Experiências” ticket adds a lunch with wines from every Algarve producer, an afternoon visit to a Lagoa winery and a tasting. €40 a day or €70 for both, on BOL. Correction: last week we printed Nov 13–14; the forum is Thu–Fri Nov 12–13.
Sun Nov 8 · 16:00
Festa do Magusto no Chinicato
A chestnut party run by the residents’ association. Bring small change and an appetite.
Sat Nov 14 · 21:00 · BOL
Megastructure — Pedra Dura’s closing night
Sarah Baltzinger and Isaiah Wilson close the festival, followed by a DJ set from VNHQ at 22:00. Book early.
Sat Nov 14
Raül Refree & Maria Mazzotta — Misty Fest
The Misty Fest stop in Loulé. The listing still shows no real start time; check before you book.
Thu Nov 19 · 21:30
Seremos Tango
Romina Balestrino with Gladys y Oscar, the night before the 5.º Encontro Secreto de Tango arrives in Lagos.
Thu Nov 19 – Sat Nov 21 · 19:30
Alice in Wonderland at the Auditório
Three nights of a family stage show. Book through BOL.
Fri Nov 20 – Sun Nov 22
MotoGP Grand Prix of Portugal
November this year, not spring. Rooms in Portimão and Alvor go first.
Sat Nov 21 · 19:00 · BOL
Rem Urasin plays Chopin
A solo Chopin recital in the music festival’s opening weekend. Book through BOL.
Thu Nov 26 – Sun Nov 29
ALUT — Algarviana Ultra Trail
The ultra-trail on the Via Algarviana, based at Barão de São João according to the câmara listing.
Late November
Festival da Batata-Doce — Aljezur’s sweet-potato weekend
The published dates still disagree (27–29 vs 28–30 Nov); check the festival site before you plan around it.
Sat Nov 28
Livrai-nos da Fome! — satire at the Auditório
A comedy of social criticism, in Portuguese.
Sat Nov 28 – Sun Nov 29
Baja de Lagos 2026
An off-road weekend across the concelho. Details are on the câmara page; check closer to the date.
| Date | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 4–14 | Pedra Dura — Festival de Dança do Algarve | Lagos Various venues |
| Nov 6–15 | Feira de São Martinho | Portimão Parque de Feiras |
| Nov 7–14 | Rotax Grand Finals 2026 | Portimão Kartódromo |
| Nov 15 | 36.ª Meia-Maratona de Lagos | Lagos |
| Nov 20–22 | MotoGP Grand Prix of Portugal | Portimão Autódromo |
| Nov 26–29 | ALUT — Algarviana Ultra Trail | Barão de São João Via Algarviana |
| Nov 28–Jan 5 | Natal em Lagos | Lagos Concelho |