Funchal, Madeira, Portugal, Feb. 24, 2025 (Lusa) - The regional government of the Portuguese island of Madeira (PSD) has invested €511,000 this year in the Carnival festivities, which start on Wednesday and last until 9 March, the secretary for Economy, Tourism and Culture, Eduardo Jesus, said on Monday.
At a press conference, the minister said that the expected hotel occupancy rate for this period is around 90%, signalling that Carnival is an important tourist attraction for the autonomous region.
"We've already carried out an initial survey of the market to find out the hotel occupancy rate. At the distance we're at, we're at 88%, one percentage point higher than the figure surveyed at this stage last year," he said, stressing that it was “quite natural” for occupancy to be between 90% and 95%.
The theme of the festivities is similar to that of previous years, with two highlights - the allegorical parade, on the evening of Saturday 1st March, and the mock parade, on the afternoon of Tuesday 4th March, which will travel along Funchal's seafront avenues, where 5,100 seats are available.
The allegorical procession will include 1,500 participants, organised into 13 troupes, who will then liven up the "Carnival of the Avenues", on the central plaza of Avenida Arriaga, in the centre of the Madeiran capital, every day until the end of the festivities.
The Mercadinho de Carnaval (Carnival Market) will also take place in the Placa Central, with various stalls and nights of revelry.
On Carnival Tuesday, there will be the traditional and popular mock parade, in which hundreds of people unleash their imagination and take the opportunity to satirise and criticise current affairs.
This parade, steeped in cultural heritage, vibrantly revives the carnival spirit of the first half of the 20th century in Madeira and is considered to be the most authentic expression of this era, although it has lost some of its flavour in recent years.
Also noteworthy is the Children's Carnival, with a parade scheduled for 28 February in the centre of Funchal, with the participation of 1,100 children from various schools in the region, and the Solidarity Carnival, on the same day, promoted by the Funchal Community Development Association.
During the carnival season, there are also various themed parties, such as the ‘night of the hippies’ and the ‘night of the transvestites’, and allegorical parades in various districts of the region.
At the press conference, the regional secretary for Economy, Tourism and Culture indicated that the Carnival festivities, this year under the theme ‘Fantasy of Colours’, involve a total of 4,450 people, including musical bands, philharmonic bands, Carnival workshops, Carnival markets and allegorical, prank, children's and solidarity parades.
This year, as is now common practice, the Regional Government of Madeira has granted civil servants time off on Carnival Tuesday, 4 March, and the morning of the next day.
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