Columbus Festival in Porto Santo

13 Sep 2012 - 15 Sep 2012
Place: Porto Santo

In September, Porto Santo in Vila Baleira devotes a week to Christopher Columbus, who came to the island and lived here for several years. The objective is to remember the discoverer's presence in the Madeira islands on his voyages to the Americas and the epic of the age of the discoveries.

The first contact of Columbus with Madeira was in 1478, when Funchal was a centre for the sugar trade. However, his closest ties to the archipelago are the result of his marriage to Filipa Moniz, daughter of the first done of Porto Santo, and he lived in the archipelago in the last quarter of the 15th century. His first child, Diogo, was born in Porto Santo.

The Columbus Festival in Porto Santo takes place in various shows with lots music, exhibitions, street entertainment and medieval scenes. The high point of this event is the re-enactment of the arrival of Columbus and his party at the city's quay.