This is Europe’s best kept festival secret
Food, music, culture & unlimited wine samples - for just €10. Save the date for 2025
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Last week I was in Portugal for a little work, a little play and a lot of sunshine.
It started with an exciting photo shoot in my favourite European capital of Lisbon (I’ll share more about the shoot when I can) and it ended with me stumbling upon what I am confidently calling Europe’s best kept – and best value – festival secret.
Because every second weekend in September, a small but very beautiful Portuguese town only 35 minutes from Lisbon– which is also a designated Denominação de Origem Controlada (DOC) wine region – holds a completely excellent and very family-friendly four day wine, food, music and culture festival, receiving about 40,000 visitors over the full weekend.
Not only is this the best festival of this kind I have been to, anywhere (and I’ve been to quite a few).
But I think it is – by an incredibly long stretch – the best value too.
The clincher — the entry fee is just €10
What does that get you? A huge amount.
Fantastic music of all genres, all day. From live bands playing amongst the crowds, to dulcet guitar strumming around the dinner tables, to traditional folk singers and dancers, to stadium-size music stages with international artists, to the DJs that keep the party going until 4am.
Lots of fun cultural events. Things like wine barrel racing, grape stomping, live cooking shows, art workshops, jewellery making workshops, commented wine tastings.
Tonnes of entertainment for kids. Trampolines, bouncy castles, rides, magic shows, face painting and loads more. And children under 10 get in free.
Sunshine.
Excellent food stands.
The most welcoming and friendly people.
And, wait for it…
Unlimited access to 200 wonderful Portuguese wines, from 35 producers across 15 local regions.
Yes, you did read that correctly.
The €10 entry fee includes an unlimited amount of fantastic local wines, many of them award-winning.
All day. Across all four days.
Here’s me getting my purse out at the first stand until the producer said to me with a great big grin on his face, ‘You know all the wine is included in your ticket, right?’
The organisers confirmed that this combination of glorious food, wonderful music, beautiful culture and an unlimited amount of excellent wines – all for €10 – is unique in the whole of Portugal.
I’m taking that further and saying, there is probably no other event in the whole of Europe with this combination, at this price point.
Maybe even in the whole world..? It’s possible.
There is a lot I have to say about this festival. But before I do, let me whet your appetite with some snaps.
This could never work in the UK
Imagine the apocalyptic scenes that would unfold at an event of this size, with unlimited booze, in the UK. I have little doubt the army would be called in by sundown.
And yet, across the entire four days of this festival in Portugal, I didn’t see a single obliterated person. Yes, by the time it got dark people were very merry, dancing and singing along to the music.
But I saw no fights break out, no one falling over, no one puking, no one being rude or obnoxious, no one shouting or acting in a threatening manner.
It was an extended weekend of pure festivity, joy and respect. An unsullied appreciation and enjoyment of wine for its integral cultural and social value to this region, all safe in the knowledge that a shard of a broken wine glass doesn’t end up in the wrong hands.
Because that’s another important point worth noting. The wine glasses they give you are made of actual glass.
What a unique experience, to be treated like a civilised adult
One that can be trusted with glass. Imagine that. As if the Portuguese would allow us to drink some of their best wines — the pride of the country — out of plastic.
You pay a €3 deposit which you get back if you hand the glass in at the end of the weekend. And they give you a little wine glass-carrying pouch to hang around your neck so you don’t lose your drinking vessel.
It is this glass you present to the wine pourers at the different stands to get topped up, any time until 9pm on the Thursday, 10pm on the Friday and Saturday and 8pm on the Sunday.
After that, wines (and other drinks) can be purchased until the festival closes in the small hours of each morning.
I’ve spoken before about the UK (and North America’s) quite bizarre relationship with alcohol. Attending this Portuguese celebration of wine, food, music, culture and community reminded me just how different that relationship is in the rest of Europe.
The festival is for everyone, of all ages
Toddlers were asleep in their pushchairs at 2am whilst their parents raved on into the early morning. I spotted loved up oldies dancing in pairs at 3am, their stamina outrunning mine.
Whole families attended together, aged from baby to grandparent, everyone having the best time and feeling completely safe until really very late indeed.
Because the culture of wine, revelry, celebration and a joy for life should not be pleasures ring-fenced for only adults to enjoy, separated from children, teenagers and the very elderly. These pleasures are for everyone, of any age, whether they want to (or are able) to drink wine or not.
This is what I love about Europe and their relationship with wine. Wine is not a grownup-only endeavour. Obviously, children aren’t drinking it. But children are involved and fully understand its cultural significance. Wine is not naughty. It’s not a ‘cheeky treat’. It’s not hidden away and it’s not a problem.
Wine is respected, appreciated and enjoyed as part of everyday life. It is completely normal for everyone, spanning all ages, to be having the best time at a wine festival.
I was so thoroughly impressed by all of it.
There were no tourists, but they want them
You may have noticed I haven’t actually named this festival yet, or its location. I share this after the paywall.
The reason for this is I don’t particularly want the entire internet to know about it and for people with the wrong agenda (i.e. to take advantage of the generosity of the weekend and get f*cked) going and ruining the whole thing.
I got speaking to the Mayor of the town to find out more. And if they actually want tourists to come.
This festival is in its 6th year and was made for the locals and to connect some important wine players within the region. It is not a money making venture; the ticket price just about covers the costs. And the price point is kept low to ensure it remains accessible to those who actually live there.
Despite it being so close to Lisbon, hardly anyone has heard of this festival, including the Portuguese. But the town does want people to know about it.
I told the Mayor that discerning Brits (and beyond) would go wild for it. So many visit Lisbon but I don’t think any of them have heard of this festival, I certainly hadn’t. I asked him if he had a message for international tourists.
He told me:
“It’s a problem that when people come to Lisbon, they stay in Lisbon or around Lisbon - they visit Sintra, Cascais. We are only 30km from Lisbon, very very near. So near that people could come in the morning and then head back to Lisbon in the evening.
We don’t know how to reach people to come here [at this point I said, ‘That’s where I come in!’ and he laughed and said thank you, thank you!] They are welcome here in our town. And as you said, it’s unique.
Near Lisbon, it’s the only place that does this. So it’s important that people come to see it.”
I asked him a bit more about the festival. He said,
“Portuguese people like to be together with friends, outdoors, listening to music, drinking wine, toasting their family, friends and health.
This is a small town. However, it is very rich in wine. It’s a mix of several feelings of belonging and being here. It’s nice to see that people are happy and that they are so happy that they come back every year, for every day of the festival.”
Food and drink at the festival
One thing I really appreciated were the dining experiences at different price points, and all of them wonderful.
I attended both of the premium ticketed dinners which were multi-course tasting menus paired with wines, with live cooking by a local and renowned chef. They cost €50 and €100. Great options if you’re hankering for some fine dining and fancy a splurge.
And I also feasted at several of the numerous great food stands where, for example, I purchased an excellent bifana with steak, egg and cheese for €6, the bread baked fresh in the food truck’s oven.
And then throughout the day, there are various cooking shows where they hand out samples of what’s been rustled up. Such as a huge paella. Or the traditional bowl of soup someone shoved into my hand along with a cup of wine, after we all stomped on a barrel full of grapes.
And if wine isn’t your thing, that’s OK!
There is so much more to this festival than just wine. Plus there are cocktail and beer stands (you pay for those separately) and plenty of non-alcoholic options too.
Is language a barrier?
I don’t speak Portuguese. And I heard almost no one speaking English at the festival, because everyone there was Portuguese. But that doesn’t mean the people can’t speak English – quite the contrary.
Pretty much everyone I spoke to on an individual basis was able to converse with me in great English. I particularly loved how each person would open with, ‘my English is very bad’ and proceed to speak close to fluently.
Portugal remains in the top 10 list of countries that speak English the best in the world, according to the report EF English Proficiency Index (EF EPI) that analyses data from more than 2.2 million non-native English speakers across 113 countries and regions.
So, even if all the talking at the festival events is done in Portuguese, feel free to speak to the people individually with any questions you might have. They were all delighted I was interested!
I attended this festival on my own
I ended up there because I was already in Lisbon for work and someone mentioned the festival to me, so I thought I’d extend my stay and check it out.
I’ve previously written about how much I enjoy solo travel. But this was a stretch, even for me — attending a festival, on my own. In a country where I don’t speak the language.
But I could not have had a better time.
I made new friends, got chatting to so many people, danced with others, danced on my own, ate with others, ate on my own, then walked the 300m back to my room each night with the music in the distance still pumping until 4am.
Everyone was so welcoming and friendly and tried to get me involved in everything. Who knew solo festival-going was such a good idea.
