What's on in Évora, Portugal through the year

Busy — Christmas holidays in Portugal, school holidays in 7 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Olive harvest (1 Nov – 31 Jan (usually)), Christmas garden and lights (5 Dec – 1 Jan (usually))

Busy — Carnival holidays in Portugal, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in February.

Peak crowds — Easter week, Easter holidays in Portugal

• Nature

  Alentejo spring

  1 Mar – 30 Apr · usuallyWildflowers & blooms

  The plain is green for eight weeks a year and this is them: poppies between the cork oaks, storks on every chimney and the walking round the megaliths at its easiest.

• Holiday

  Easter week

  29 Mar – 5 AprEaster & Holy WeekCrowdedClosures

  Good Friday is a national holiday and Easter Sunday a day for family lunches. Many Portuguese take the week around it off, so hotels fill and rates rise for the first busy spell of the year, and some shops and museums close on Friday and Sunday. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Easter week, Easter holidays in Portugal

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Alentejo spring (1 Mar – 30 Apr (usually)), Easter week (29 Mar – 5 Apr)

Busy — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

• Nature

  Cork stripping

  15 May – 31 Aug · usuallyHarvest

  Bark comes off the montado by hand through the hot months and the stripped trunks go raw orange, with the year painted on each one. It only happens to a given tree once in nine years.

Peak crowds — Feira de Sao Joao, Summer holidays in Portugal

• Hazard

  Wildfire season

  15 Jun – 30 Sep · usuallySmoke season

  The cork and eucalyptus country around the city carries fire risk all summer, and a bad week puts haze over the plain and closes rural roads at short notice. Source ↗

• Festival

  Feira de Sao Joao

  18 Jun – 2 Jul · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  The Alentejo's biggest fair takes over the Rossio for about ten days around 24 June, part livestock market and part cante alentejano and grilled meat until late. Source ↗

• Hazard

  Alentejo summer heat

  20 Jun – 5 SepExtreme heat

  The interior of southern Portugal runs hotter than the coast by a wide margin and the walled town has no shade to speak of at midday. Everything worth seeing is best done before ten. Source ↗

Still on: Cork stripping (15 May – 31 Aug (usually))

Peak crowds — Feira de Sao Joao, Summer holidays in Portugal

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Cork stripping (15 May – 31 Aug (usually)), Wildfire season (15 Jun – 30 Sep (usually)), Feira de Sao Joao (18 Jun – 2 Jul (usually)), Alentejo summer heat (20 Jun – 5 Sep)

Busy — Summer holidays in Portugal, school holidays in 7 of the markets that fill it

• Nature

  Alentejo grape harvest

  15 Aug – 5 Oct · usually

  The vintage starts early down here, often in the second half of August, and the estates around the city open for it. Talha wine in clay pots is the local peculiarity.

Still on: Cork stripping (15 May – 31 Aug (usually)), Wildfire season (15 Jun – 30 Sep (usually)), Alentejo summer heat (20 Jun – 5 Sep)

Busy — Summer holidays in Portugal, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Wildfire season (15 Jun – 30 Sep (usually)), Alentejo summer heat (20 Jun – 5 Sep), Alentejo grape harvest (15 Aug – 5 Oct (usually))

Busy — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Alentejo grape harvest (15 Aug – 5 Oct (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Nature

  Olive harvest

  1 Nov – 31 Jan · usually

  Alentejo produces most of Portugal's olive oil, and from late October the mills around Evora run day and night. Estates offer tastings of the new oil and walks through the groves. Source ↗

• Festival

  Sao Martinho

  11 NovReligious feast

  Saint Martin's Day is marked with a magusto: chestnuts roasted over fires and the first young wine or agua-pe of the year, in tascas, schools and village squares. Source ↗

Busy — Christmas holidays in Portugal, school holidays in 7 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Christmas garden and lights

  5 Dec – 1 Jan · usuallyChristmas & New Year

  The historic centre is lit from early December with the tree in Praca do Giraldo, and the public garden hosts a Christmas market of crafts and Alentejo food in the second half of the month. Source ↗

Still on: Olive harvest (1 Nov – 31 Jan (usually))