Madeira Islands Annual Spring Flower Festival
The annual flower festival on the island of Madeira is a perfect festival to represent Madeira island’s natural beauty. The island is known for its unique gardens and exotic flowers, where anything and everything grows in these fertile soils. This is a colorful, fun festival that takes place each spring in late April early May. This is when the flowers are in full bloom and everything looks and smells fragrant. This has been one of the island’s most celebrated events taking place every year since 1954.
This is a festival that the whole city takes part in, with many local shops and restaurants decorating their windows and entrances with the local flowers. You can see hundreds of costumes, where all the towns and villages take part in making this a royal welcome to the spring season. It is great to see the wide variety of costumes with each town performing a dance-related to their theme. The colors and aromas are remarkable, with every color under the rainbow being present in both the flowers and costumes. 
The festival’s highlight is the massive parade that takes place where all the locals grace the streets with their elaborately decorated costumes. This is an enjoyable time as the local music plays with dancers gliding up and down the city streets. 
The festival is full of delicious local treats throughout the festival and is a beautiful occasion to try some regional cuisines. 
The capital city of Funchal has always been known as a floating garden in the Atlantic. This festival, which incorporates all the magic of this unique island, is another reason you must visit this paradise in the Atlantic. The festival is filled with activities for family’s and couples alike and is a great place to spend your holidays on one of the world’s most beautiful islands. 
There are many hotel options in Funchal for couples or families. However, this can be a time of high occupancy on the island, so it is good to book in advance or look into private rentals. The island offers some great rentals on the best spots on the island, offering them as vacation rentals. The island is very accessible with many affordable options to get to and from the event if you don’t have a car. Many of the streets are closed for the parade and are covered in flowers, so parking close by is not an option for this event. 
This will be a festival that you will never forget with the magic of Madeira being unforgettable. The crystal blue ocean waters, hundreds of plants and flowers, and happy locals eager to show you all of mother nature’s glory are only a few of the many reasons why this is a must-visit destination. A favorite amongst fleeing European nobles due to its remote location and fantastic climate, the cities gardens are filled with flowers and trees both endemic and native to the island and is a gardener’s dream to explore. The elaborate gardens have mostly been made open to the public free of charge however, some botanical gardens charge a minimal fee to explore their vast park. Make sure to take advantage of the season and explore the rare fauna that makes this one of Europe’s most popular island destinations for over a century. 
