Think New Year’s Eve party in Europe and your mind probably jumps to some of the continent’s most iconic landmarks, such as the Eiffel Tower or Brandenburg Gate, illuminated by lights and fireworks. Or perhaps you’re imagining an all-night rave at one of Amsterdam’s or Prague’s biggest super-clubs.
Yet the continent’s biggest and best party to ring in the new year actually takes place far from the crowded city squares of its most famous capitals. In a place over 500 miles from mainland Europe, farther out to sea than the distance between Paris and Berlin.
Each 31 December, tens of thousands of people gather in the largest city of a small, autonomous Portuguese island community to enjoy possibly the most spectacular celebrations anywhere in the world. Along with the other festivities traditional to this lively island around New Year’s Eve.
The sub-tropical archipelago of Madeira is surrounded by ocean, which turns out to be ideal for a seaside carnival to celebrate the passing of the year in style. The community capital Funchal, which is now best-known as the hometown of legendary footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, hosts the bulk of the celebrations, in its glorious south-facing bay.
New Year’s Eve Eve
The first thing that sets Funchal’s New Year’s Eve party apart from the rest is that its residents don’t even wait until the big night to get things started. Families and friends gather for an end-of-year meal on 39 December, the evening before the final countdown.
This meal traditionally consists of carne de vinha d’alhos – a pork dish in which the meat is marinated in wine, garlic, paprika and chilli – and bolo de mel – a honey-based walnut and almond cake – for dessert. The latter can be washed down with a glass of sweet Madeira wine, before festivities really ramp up a notch.
Venues open their doors for customary dance events accompanied by local music. Depending on where you go in Funchal (or how much you’re willing to fork out), these events can range from black-tie balls to folkloric street dances called bailinhos in the open air. In any case, they’re typically spurred on a healthy dose of poncha, the archetypal Madeiran cocktail made from island rum, honey and lemon.
Concert at the quay
Whatever the choice of dance party, it’s likely to continue well into the early hours of 31 December. Then it’s time for a late morning snooze before preparing to do it all again on New Year’s Eve itself.
Crowds begin to gather around Funchal several hours before midnight, either along the city’s quay or at a vantage point up in the hills from which to take in a fireworks display for the ages (more on this below). Many of these crowds will have arrived by boat, on one of the plethora of cruiseliners stopping at Madeira specifically for this momentous night.
Prior to the sound of exploding gunpowder, though, punters who’ve ventured quayside can enjoy a special New Year’s Eve concert on the waterfront performed by the Orquestra Clássica da Madeira. The orchestra tends to play a variety of popular and seasonal favourites at the event, from a suite of classics from Disney’s “Fantasia” to pieces from Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker.”
For those in too much of a party mood on New Year’s Eve for orchestral suites but do enjoy classical music, the Orquestra Clássica da Madeira will be performing a further concert on the first day of the New Year. Tickets are still available for their performance at Funchal’s Teatro Municipal Baltazar Dias on January 1st 2025.
A fireworks world record
By then, the entire city will have witnessed the main event, one that has entered the record books on multiple occasions. When the clocks strike midnight, fireworks explode into the sky from 59 different launch stations across Funchal. The whole of the bay and its surrounding mountains and valleys serve as a natural amphitheatre and echo chamber, bombarding the eyes and ears with a spectacle unlike any other across the world.
The 2006 iteration of this spectacle achieved the Guinness World Record for the Largest Pyrotechnic Performance. This record was then overtaken by the same event four years later.
These epic illuminations of Funchal Bay aren’t a new thing, either. They date back to bonfires that lit up Madeira’s capital on New Year’s Day as far back as the 17th century. It was the island’s English merchant population who introduced fireworks a hundred years later, before the businessman João José Rodrigues Leitão revived the tradition by putting on a show at the city’s actual amphitheatre in the late 1800s.
It’s a tradition that’s continued ever since on an increasingly impressive scale. And one ideally suited to a city and an archipelago renowned for its party atmosphere. For those who haven’t found their ideal New Year’s Eve party in mainland Europe – particularly those based in Portugal – Funchal is less than two hours away, via a relatively affordable flight.
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See more about Madeira here in Dispatches’ archives.
Alex Beaton
Alex Beaton is a writer from London, UK. His published works include a guide to starting a business in Warsaw, a fictionalised account of his time living in Egypt, and a 2013 report of the political situation in Bulgaria. He has also written extensively about his travels in France, Portugal, Italy and Malta.
