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Carnival is magical, and Madeira knows how to celebrate in style. This year's edition of the famous Madeira Carnival will be held in a wider version from February 26th to March 9th and will feature a wide range of events and cultural activities for everyone's enjoyment. The event is about fun, family, friends and great festivities. Kicking off with the Compadres Festival in Santana on the 20th and 23rd, this event heralds the opening of the carnival and as such two figurines are subjected to a mock trial and accused of many crimes before being burned; much to the delight of the spectators. The festival is lively, fun-filled and Santana is the place to go if you want to get into the party spirit of things.
Every day, there will be street entertainment that includes activities such as carnival music, shows, and various performances, particularly philharmonic bands and concerts. Additionally, there will be entertainment for children that includes face painting, balloon twisting, games and carnival activities, dances, shows, plays, storytelling, and other activities.
Madeira Carnival 2025 Programme
On the 28th of February, the 'Children's Carnival' will start at 10:30, gathering around 1,000 little revellers at the Cathedral, who in turn will parade with their costumes up to the Central Square in Funchal. On the same day, but this time at 14.30, the 'Solidarity Carnival' will take place near the Cathedral, with 18 troupes for a total of 500 elements that will parade until the Municipal Garden, where they will challenge all the people to join the party.
On March 1st, "Fat Saturday", the highlight of the program is undoubtedly the carnival parade with the so-called "Cortejo Alegórico de Carnaval`, which at 20:00 will bring together over a dozen troupes to the Harvey Foster roundabout, where about 1500 revelers and decorated floats will parade and cheer along Avenida Francisco Sá Carneiro, Avenida do Mar e das Comunidades Madeirenses all the way to the Plaza of Autonomy (Praça da Autonomia). It’s the pinnacle of a year of hard work and dedication of all those taking part and does something that Madeira is so good at; creating an event that brings together all those taking part, whether it's in the parade, backstage, or as a spectator, this procession is an assault on the senses with its magical, noisy, bright, cheerful atmosphere.
From 3rd to 9th March, the 'Carnaval das Avenidas' will take place at 20:00 and 21:00, with 11 troupes parading on the passerelle of the central square of Avenida Arriaga in Funchal, an excellent opportunity to get up close and personal with the revellers and perhaps, if you're lucky, have a private dance with the Queen of Drums of each troupe.
On March 4th, the long-awaited Shrove Tuesday, there will be lots of entertainment commencing at 11:00 in the Central walkway Avenida Arriaga and Largo da Restauração, preceding the traditional "Cortejo Trapalhão", which will start at 16:00 from the Harvey Foster roundabout to Praça da Autonomia, a parade open to the general public, with prior registration and a prize for the best costumes. Also known as the ‘People’s Parade,’ it has no boundaries or themes and therefore is a bright and brilliant mixture of traditional ideas and costumes, political and social satire and for many the chance to dress up and have fun.
It’s fun; it's brilliant and unmissable. Limited seating is available for the main parades, but you need to book early to reserve your seat.
Last but not least, there will be several floats in different councils of Madeira Island and the neighbouring island of Porto Santo, as well as Carnival celebrations in many hotels and night clubs all over the island, which will have their own programme and are guaranteed to bring a lot of "Joy and Folly" to this year's edition of the famous Carnival in Madeira.
If you can’t get to the action, you can always watch the main events from the CR7 Museum live webcam and more localised entertainment from the Ritz Café Webcam.
