Due to heavy rain the flower festival parade which was supposed to happen today (Sunday) afternoon, was postponed for tomorrow (Monday) at 2pm. Saturday's program went well with school children fulfilling the "Wall of Hope" each one with a different flower. On Funchal downtown the fower perfume stands in the air as there are flower carpets covering some sidewalks, there is a flower exhibition and some other flower decorations on the main squares of the city.

In 29 years this is the second time the flower festival had to be postponed due to bad weather conditons with the first time being in 1983. Weather forecasts are predicting rain until Wednesday but we hope tomorrow afternoon rain will give us a break....

Easter is almost here and just two weeks later Madeira held its famous Flower Festival. Both this events attract many visitants to Madeira, one due to the holidays associated to it and other because it is an unique event which fills up Funchal streets with a special atmosphere. As every year, during the Flower Festival weekend, this year on the 5th and 6th of Abril, there will be several activities in Funchal such as the "Wall of Hope" on Saturday where school children gather in Município Square to put a flower on that green wall, several flower carpets fill in Funchal sidewalks, there is always a flower exhibition and on Sunday afternoon a flower parade takes place through Funchal downtown. All this is accompanied by folklore and classical music shows.

Mudas Jazz Sessions take place in Casa das Mudas, Calheta, Madeira Island. Each month there will be a Jazz session with national and international artists.

Saturday, March 1st

At 10 pm
Dave Allen Trio (USA)
Dave Allen (guitarra)
Carlo DeRosa (contrabaixo)
Mark Ferber (bateria)

Saturday, April 12th

At 10 pm
João Lencastre group featuring David Binney (PORT/USA)
David Binney (sax alto)
Benny Lackner (piano)
Mário Franco (contrabaixo)
João Lencastre (bateria)

Saturday, May 31st - double concert:

At 10 pm
Albert Sanz Trio (ESP/JAPÃO/USA)
Albert Sanz (piano)
Masa Kamaguchi (contrabaixo)
RJ Miller (bateria)

At 11 pm
Sara Serpa Quintet (PORT/ESP/JAPÃO/USA)
Sara Serpa (voz)
André Matos (guitarra)
Albert Sanz (piano)
Masa Kamaguchi (contrabaixo)
RJ Miller (bateria)

Christmas has just passed and Carnival is already knocking at the door... Carnival festivities are being prepared for some months already as decorations and costumes making of take a lot of time.

As usual Carnival starts in Santana with the "Festa dos Compadres" (buddy's festivity) where actors make fun of social and political affairs. This funny festivity this year is on the last weekend of January.

A week after, on Saturday night the main Carnival Parade takes place on Funchal streets where hundreds of dancers and a few floats take part. At the end there is a public ball at Praça do Município where everyone can feel the heat of Madeira Carnival, dancing by the sound of Brazilian music.

On the afternoon of Sunday and of Shrove Tuesday several trickster parades take place all over the island with the edge taking place in Funchal where once again hundreds of persons disguised make caricatures of politicians and its decisions.

On Friday 1st February through all over the Island children will have their Carnival party at school and so it is common to see several princess and warriors walking around.

Since Friday night, before Shrove Tuesday, bars and discos have a theme for each night and so most of its customers disguise according to that theme... Usually Friday night is the "travesty night" and there is also a "flower power" night between others.

Some hotels also have their Carnival ball dance on Saturday night.

On 2008 Funchal city is celebrating 500 years of existence. This way Funchal City Hall is developing a programme of culture and entertainment to celebrate the fifth centenary anniversary of Funchal.

Despite all other events which Funchal city hosts every year, like New Years festivities, Carnival, Easter, Flowers Festival, Wine Festival, Funchal Jazz between others, some interesting events will also take place here. The edition or re-edition of some books related to Funchal history and geography, the inauguration of a sculpture built to celebrate "Funchal 500 anos" (Funchal 500 years) on the 21st of August and a Tall Ships race in early October are a few examples of the upcomig celebrations.