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Photo Credits:
Alma Mollemans
Beto Serrão
Dina Castro
Don Amaro
Neide Freitas
Neusa Tobias
Rodolfo Gouveia
Valério Andrade
Virgílio Silva
A walk through Funchal during December is a real delight. There is a special magic in the air. The traditions of the Christmas Season, deeply rooted in the locals’ habits, are complemented by a wide and varied programme of cultural, ethnographic and artistic initiatives. These begin in November with the switching on of the lights in the streets of the centre of Funchal and continue throughout the whole of December until Epiphany in January.
The preparations for transforming the city of Funchal into a life-size nativity scene begin to make themselves felt in November. The streets are decorated with lights of all sizes and colours which evoke images of the striking island and seasonal symbolism.
In December squares are filled with flowers. Poinsettias, Mistletoe, Slipper Orchids and a vast array of greens spread their unmistakable fragrance throughout the town. Christmas music infiltrates all the arteries of the centre of Funchal and the streets are filled with Christmas shoppers and those who are just enjoying the special atmosphere of the days leading up to the celebration. The agenda is completed with cultural events — which are mostly of a seasonal nature — and high quality musical performances.
The Funchal amphiteatre is transformed into a grandiose nativity scene with over 250 thousand coloured lamps and the hillsides are pinpricked by white lights especially installed for this purpose.
Christmas is followed by a flurry of activity to ensure that New Year’s Eve is memorable for all. As the clock strikes twelve at midnight on the 31st December the skies are lit up by fire, colour and hope for the approaching New Year which could not start in a better way.
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Merry Christmas!