Photos by Tânia Pestana

On the 23rd of December, in Funchal, it is typical to go to the market place (Mercado dos Lavradores) to buy the last things for Christmas, like fruits, vegetables and fish. But this tradition has been growing through the years and nowadays beyond the night shopping, there are groups singing in the market stairs and thousands of people go there to amuse themselves, drink and eat sandwiches of ‘Carne, vinho e alhos’ (small cubes of meat with wine and garlic), a traditional dish of Madeira Christmas. Just to imagine, this year there was a bar that has sold 12 thousand sandwiches during all night.

Photos by Tânia Pestana