Our Lady of Remedies Festival 2026
Northern Portugal's greatest pilgrimage returns to Lamego from 27 August to 9 September 2026, with processions, street parties and free concerts. The 2026 line-up opens with rock legends Xutos & Pontapés and features Vizinhos, Sara Correia, Em Casa d'Amália and Filipe Sequeira. Two weeks of faith, music and tradition around the majestic Remédios Sanctuary.
Known as "Portugal's Pilgrimage", the Festival in Honour of Our Lady of Remedies is the highlight of Lamego's calendar and one of the country's oldest and best-attended religious festivals. In 2026 it runs from 27 August to 9 September, turning the whole city into a continuous stage of religious and popular celebration.
The heart of the pilgrimage is the Sanctuary of Nossa Senhora dos Remédios, crowning Monte de Santo Estêvão and reached by a monumental Baroque stairway of some 686 steps, decorated with blue-and-white azulejo tiles, fountains, obelisks and the celebrated Court of Kings. Many pilgrims fulfil vows by climbing the steps on their knees — an image that captures the devotional intensity of these festivities.
Across two weeks the programme blends liturgical moments — novenas, open-air masses and the grand procession of 8 September with its ornamented ox-carts and biblical tableaux — with a vast secular schedule: nightly street parties (arraiais), brass bands, folk dance groups, ethnographic parades, a crafts fair, food stalls serving Douro cuisine and fireworks.
Live music is one of the biggest draws. The 2026 line-up, unveiled by Lamego Municipality at the BTL tourism fair, opens on 27 August with Xutos & Pontapés, Portugal's most iconic rock band. They are followed by Vizinhos (28 August), fado singer Sara Correia (29 August), the tribute show Em Casa d'Amália (30 August) and Filipe Sequeira (31 August), with September bringing Santamaria, Plutonio and Os Quatro e Meia. Concerts take place on the city's main stage and admission is free.
For visitors touring the Douro Valley, the festival is the perfect excuse to discover Lamego: the Cathedral, the Lamego Museum, the medieval Castle and, of course, the Port wine and sparkling wine cellars the region is famous for. Be sure to try the bola de Lamego savoury bread, local smoked ham and Douro wines at the festival stalls.
Practical tips: book accommodation months ahead, especially for the 8 September weekend. Traffic in the historic centre is restricted during the arraiais, with peripheral car parks connected on foot. Wear comfortable shoes — the stairway is long and steep — and expect lively nights lasting until dawn.
