The Christmas and New Year’s Festivities in Madeira begin on Saturday and continue until January 6, in a 3.7 million euro investment from the Regional Government, which expects occupancy rates of 61% and 87%, respectively.
In the presentation of the tourist animation poster for that period in Madeira, the Regional Secretary for Tourism and Culture, Paula Cabaço, revealed that a survey conducted on November 15 points to an occupancy rate of “61% for Christmas and 87% for the End of Year, roughly similar to last year’s. ”
About the poster, whose theme is the 600th anniversary of the discovery of Madeira and Porto Santo, Paula Cabaço emphasized the innovation in lighting in the central area of Funchal, with predominance of colors and motifs of Christmas, in animation with 250 hours of shows ( 18 bands, 23 groups of folklore and 39 musical shows), fireworks and cultural dynamism with initiatives such as “Christmas workshops”, making tourists get involved in regional customs and customs as in the elaboration of sweets of the time or the wheat soup.
The poster also involves an animation component for the younger ones with traditional games, live pictures, theatre and choirs.
The eight-minute firework display this year will have 38 deflagration stations, two on the island of Porto Santo and the rest along the amphitheatre of the city of Funchal and the sea, in an investment of 1.3 million euros.
On the last day of the year are expected 10 cruise ships.
The animation will be concentrated in the Central Plate, which will have 22 small shops and sale of regional products, in Largo da Restauração, with the ethnographic village and the crib, in the Municipal Garden, dedicated to young people, and in Praça do Povo, with musical animation and a Great New Year’s concert.
The museums under the tutelage of the Regional Secretariat of Tourism and Culture will also present programs alluding to the time.
