Events in Madeira in Autumn 2026: Wine Festival, Chestnuts and Seasonal Highlights
Grape harvest in Funchal, village harvest festas, the Nature Festival and chestnuts in Curral das Freiras — our picks for autumn 2026 in Madeira.
Andy Meyer·
Summer takes its time here, and winter is in no hurry. In between, Madeira shows a side many visitors only notice if they stay a little longer: ripe grapes on the south slopes, concerts in town, harvest festas out in the villages, and later the smell of roasting chestnuts in Curral das Freiras.
Two festivals shape the autumn. The Madeira Wine Festival still falls in the warm weeks: wine, lodges, evenings on Praça do Povo. The Chestnut Festival takes place high up in Curral das Freiras. And in between there are concerts, days outdoors and small village festas.
Come in September, October or November and you get three quite different sides of the island autumn.
A selection, not a full programme. The year-round picture is in our Madeira events guide.
At a glance
- 23 Aug – 13 Sep — Madeira Wine Festival
- 5 Sep — Estreito harvest
- 12 Sep — Madeira Classical Orchestra, season opening
- 17–19 Sep — ENSEADA in Funchal
- 17–20 Sep — Columbus Festival on Porto Santo
- 19–20 Sep — Festa do Pêro in Ponta do Pargo
- 2–4 Oct — Festa da Maçã in Camacha
- 6–11 Oct — Nature Festival
- 9–11 Oct — Sea and Fisherman Fair in Caniçal
- 17–18 Oct — Ecotrail Funchal
- 23–25 Oct — Madeira International Mandolin Festival (plus 14 Nov)
- 31 Oct — EcoMusicalis in Achadas da Cruz
- 31 Oct – 1 Nov — Chestnut Festival in Curral das Freiras
- 11 Nov — São Martinho
- 21 Nov — TEDxMadeira in Câmara de Lobos
Madeira Wine Festival — the harvest, celebrated
From 23 August to 13 September the island is almost all about wine. The Madeira Wine Festival is not a single concert, but three weeks of harvest, tasting and tradition — in Funchal, in the lodges and out among the vines.
Official overview: Visit Madeira.
Poster: Madeira Wine Festival 2026.
Wine Lounge on Praça do Povo
If you are out in Funchal in the evening, you will almost certainly end up at the Madeira Wine Lounge. On Praça do Povo, eleven producers pour Madeira wine and the island’s still wines, with simple food and live music. Most evenings 6:00–11:00 PM. A short masterclass if you want a guided tasting — otherwise a glass at the stand is enough.
All dates: Madeira Wine Festival.
Harvest in Estreito — 5 September
Harvest day in Estreito.
On Saturday 5 September, Estreito de Câmara de Lobos celebrates the vintage the way it has been done here for generations: pick grapes, folklore through the village, and if you like, step into the stone press (lagar) and tread with everyone else. Food, wine, music.
This is the Wine Festival you join with your hands, not only with a glass. Details: Estreito harvest.
Concerts in the vineyards — 12 and 13 September
The closing weekend puts bands beside the vines: From the Vineyard to the Wine Press on 12 and 13 September. Capacity is small.
If you are looking for more arraiais, concerts and nights out in September: Events in Madeira in September.
September — season opening, ENSEADA and the Festa do Pêro
Alongside the harvest, Funchal’s Classical Orchestra opens a new concert season. At the other end of the island, Ponta do Pargo celebrates the pêro.
Madeira Classical Orchestra — season opening, 12 September
Poster: opening concert, 12 September.
On Saturday 12 September, 6:00 PM, the 2026/27 season begins at the Madeira Congress Centre. Gianluca Marcianò conducts; soprano Milica Strahinić sings Tchaikovsky, with Taneyev’s Oresteia Overture and Stravinsky’s The Firebird. Tickets €25; reduced for young people, Conservatory students free.
More dates follow, including Adrian Butterfield on 26 September. If you want autumn in a concert hall as well, this is where it starts.
ENSEADA — three days of art in the centre (17–19 September)
Poster: ENSEADA in central Funchal.
ENSEADA fills the gardens and squares in the centre of Funchal: music, installations, workshops, performances in the street. Stages at the Municipal Garden auditorium, Praça Amarela and Jardim Almirante Reis. More than 200 artists, around 30 performances, free entry.
On Saturday night Lúmen moves through the city: five-metre illuminated puppets by S.A. Marionetas.
Festa do Pêro — Ponta do Pargo (19–20 September)
Harvest festa in Ponta do Pargo.
At the far west, where the island drops into the sea, Ponta do Pargo celebrates the pêro — a traditional Madeiran apple variety. A classic arraial: growers, tasquinhas, folklore, live music, organised by the Casa do Povo.
Two weeks later Camacha has its own apple festa, the Festa da Maçã — different village, its own festa.
Tips
- Autumn side trip: Porto Santo — The Columbus Festival runs 17 to 20 September in Vila Baleira: street theatre, music and a 16th-century-style market, around the time Christopher Columbus spent on the island. Autumn is a good moment for a few quieter days on the beach.
October — harvest, nature and mandolin
In October the calendar moves out to the villages and into the hills. Apples in Camacha, a week of Nature Festival, a fishermen’s fair in Caniçal, trail running in Funchal, mandolin in the theatre — and chestnuts at the end of the month.
Festa da Maçã — Camacha (2–4 October)
Up on the plateau where the wicker comes from, Camacha celebrates the regional maçã: pressing, cooking, folklore, tastings. A classic harvest weekend, not quite as far west as Ponta do Pargo.
More from the Junta da Camacha.
Nature Festival — 6–11 October
A week of hiking, canyoning, mountain biking and guided trips — the kind of thing many people come for in autumn. Official programme and sign-up: Nature Festival on Visit Madeira.
Sea and Fisherman Fair — Caniçal (9–11 October)
Poster: Feira do Mar e do Pescador.
Caniçal is a fishing community, and that weekend you can taste it. The Casa do Povo puts on stalls, fish and seafood, and live music — a village fair, not a big spectacle, which is exactly why it is worth the trip.
Ecotrail Funchal — 17 and 18 October
Poster: Ecotrail Funchal.
Trail running from the capital’s hills down into the centre. The main distances start on 17 October; 18 October is kids’ races and the prize-giving. Enter at ecotrailmadeira.com.
Madeira International Mandolin Festival — 23–25 October
Poster: 11th Madeira International Mandolin Festival.
Madeira has a long mandolin tradition — tunas, orchestras, parish groups. Once a year they share the Teatro Municipal Baltazar Dias with players from abroad. 11th edition: 23–25 October, plus a concert on 14 November at Museu Henrique e Francisco Franco.
EcoMusicalis — Achadas da Cruz, 31 October
Open air on the north-west coast: EcoMusicalis Lauraceae names each concert after a tree of the Laurissilva. This time the Barbusano concert in Achadas da Cruz — music with a view of the Atlantic.
Chestnut Festival in Curral das Freiras — 31 October and 1 November
One winding road up from Funchal, and the village smells of roasting chestnuts.
Curral das Freiras — Nuns’ Valley — sits in a deep bowl above Câmara de Lobos, cooler than the coast and properly autumnal once the harvest is over. Chestnuts here are a crop: the parish is one of the island’s important growing areas. Since 1983 the Casa do Povo has put that on show around All Saints — growers’ stalls, folklore, and a festa meant to keep local farming and village traditions going.
There are roasted and boiled chestnuts, cakes, liqueurs, savoury dishes; restaurants cook for the weekend. A parade takes in the whole parish, often with hundreds of people and floats. If you only know the viewpoint, this is a different Curral.
Poster: Festa da Castanha.
Saturday 31 October and Sunday 1 November — that is when the festa has fallen in recent years, around All Saints. The Casa do Povo publishes the programme closer to the date. The road is narrow and busy that weekend — it is worth leaving early. Give it time if you can: the Chestnut Festival is a good reason to experience Curral das Freiras as more than a quick stop at the viewpoint.
The festa also includes Miss Castanha.
November — new wine, roasted chestnuts, new ideas
The Chestnut Festival carries All Saints into November. After that the calendar quiets down, but it does not empty.
São Martinho — 11 November
No ticket, no stage you have to book: on 11 November people gather for new wine and roasted chestnuts. The tradition is especially present in Funchal’s parish of São Martinho; it is marked elsewhere on the island too, often from the evening before.
Mandolin, once more — 14 November
If you missed the October weekend: the Mandolin Festival returns on 14 November, this time at Museu Henrique e Francisco Franco.
TEDxMadeira — 21 November, Câmara de Lobos
On Saturday 21 November the first TEDxMadeira conference is in person, at Museu de Imprensa da Madeira in Câmara de Lobos. Ten talks, theme “All we need is…”. Not a stream you catch later — if you want it, you sit in the hall.
Tickets: tedxmadeira.com.
New dates keep appearing through the autumn. The events page is the most reliable place to look — and the year-round guide if you want the wider picture.
Ideas for autumn
A few combinations that work well together:
- Wine: evenings at the Lounge, a day in Estreito, perhaps a concert in the vines
- Town: orchestra season opening, ENSEADA in the centre
- Village: apple festa in Ponta do Pargo or in Camacha
- Outdoors: Nature Festival or Ecotrail
- Mountains: Chestnut Festival in Curral
- After that: São Martinho, mandolin, TEDx
In Madeira Unlocked you see dates, places and ticket links in one place — and whatever is added in the days ahead.