Going to Nazaré in September? The town's festas move back to the Terreiro after 27 years
The Festas em honra de Nossa Senhora da Nazaré run from 4 to 13 September and return to the Terreiro do Sítio, where they were last held in 1999. The 8th is a local public holiday.
Anyone who knows Nazaré will spot the change the moment they reach the Sítio. The Festas em honra de Nossa Senhora da Nazaré, running from 4 to 13 September, are moving back to the Terreiro do Sítio and the streets around it. The last time they were held there was 1999. Twenty-seven years ago.
In recent years the festas had settled at the Parque Atlântico, a roomier site with a proper stage and space for the funfair. It worked well enough. But the Terreiro is the square in front of the sanctuary, and that is where the devotion to Our Lady of Nazaré actually comes from — the pilgrimage grew out of the clifftop, not out of a showground. That was the case the town council and the Confraria de Nossa Senhora da Nazaré made when they unveiled the new format at a public session in the Salão Nobre do Palácio Real.
When are the Nazaré festas in 2026?
Ten days, 4 to 13 September. The peak is still the 8th, a public holiday in Nazaré, when flags go up in the morning, there is solemn mass at the sanctuary and the procession winds down towards the sea for the blessing of the fleet. That is the day the town fills with visitors and with people who came home on purpose.
One thing to check first
A practical warning. At the time of writing, the council’s events listing had not published the 2026 poster, and its Festas do Sítio page still shows an older edition. If you look up concert times online, check the year before you trust the running order — it is easy to arrive with a 2024 line-up on your phone.
September suits this sort of trip. If you want a seaside festival before it, Cascais and its Festas do Mar bridge the gap nicely. Then climb up to the Sítio, lean on the wall at the viewpoint, and watch the beach far below while the music starts up behind you.
Image: Vitor Oliveira / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
