The last full week of August has a particular quality here. The crowds are still on the beaches, FATACIL is still running in Lagoa, and the restaurants in Luz are still full most nights. But Banho 29 arrives on Saturday, as it does every year, to mark the turning of the season with music along the seafront and a midnight swim, and you sense everyone knows it. The south coast beaches are at their warmest of the year this week. The sea is calm. A good week to be here.

This week in the west

LICK Algarve holds its last party after more than two decades

The Boliqueime club announced in May that it would close for good at the end of the 2026 season, after more than two decades at the centre of Algarve nightlife. Its farewell programme ran through the summer as five special nights in partnership with FABRIK Madrid, ranked eighth in the world on DJ Mag's 2026 list, and the final session last Saturday was headlined by Spanish DJ Paco Osuna. For visitors who made it part of an Algarve trip over the years, last Saturday was the last chance.

Fewer Portuguese holidaymakers this August, but hoteliers are untroubled

A survey by IPAM found that the Alentejo coast has moved ahead of the Algarve as the preferred summer destination among Portuguese holidaymakers, with rising accommodation costs in the region the main factor in the shift. International visitor numbers remain strong, and hoteliers across the Algarve say overall occupancy has held up well. The practical effect for visitors already here is minimal: the beaches are busy, the restaurants are open and the region is running at full summer pace.

Protesters rally against hotel plans behind Meia Praia

The civic movement Salvar a Meia Praia gathered outside Lagos town hall last week to oppose a planned development of two hotels and a tourist apartment complex on an 11,000 square metre site behind the beach, arguing it threatens the dunes and a lagoon basin rich in birdlife. The construction licence dates back to 1988, revised down in 2008, and approval is conditional on the developer rehabilitating the lagoon. Campaigners want the licence revoked and the site designated green space; mayor Hugo Pereira says the municipality cannot block a project that meets all legal requirements. One to watch for anyone who knows the long sweep of Meia Praia.

Greenpeace calls for a development moratorium on vulnerable sections of the Algarve coast

A Greenpeace Portugal report published this month argues that decades of intensive coastal construction, combined with accelerating erosion, have left parts of the Algarve shoreline in increasing danger. The report, titled "Destruction All Along the Coast", calls for a moratorium on new tourism and residential development in the areas most exposed to erosion and coastal flooding, and names sites including Vilamoura and Praia da Rocha as among the most vulnerable. The western Algarve's higher cliff coastline around Lagos and the Sagres peninsula is generally considered more stable; the report's immediate practical implications for the Barlavento are limited, but the broader policy argument is one the region will be watching.

Portimao moves towards rules for rental e-scooters

Portimao's council has approved the start of a municipal regulatory process for rented e-scooters, bikes and other shared vehicles, citing dangerous parking and abandoned machines blocking pavements for wheelchair users, the visually impaired and families with pushchairs. Nothing changes yet: the process opens with technical assessments and consultations, and no date has been set for the rules themselves. If you rent a scooter in Portimao in the meantime, park it somewhere it will bother nobody.

What's on this week

FATACIL, Parque de Feiras e Exposicoes, Lagoa, through Sunday 30 August

The 45th edition of the Algarve's biggest fair enters its final week, open daily from 6pm to 1am with hundreds of stands across craft, agriculture, regional food and commerce. Concerts on the main stage begin late each evening. The second week's line-up: Vizinhos on Monday 24 August, Plutonio on Tuesday 25 August, fado singer Sara Correia on Wednesday 26 August, Quim Barreiros on Thursday 27 August, Richie Campbell on Friday 28 August, Nininho Vaz Maia on Saturday 29 August, and Os Quatro e Meia closing the fair on Sunday 30 August. Worth an afternoon and evening regardless of the music programme; the fair itself is good.

Banho 29, Praia da Luz and Lagos, Saturday 29 August

The annual end-of-summer tradition takes over both Praia da Luz and Lagos this Saturday, with free music from early evening building towards the midnight sea swim. At Praia da Luz, stages run through the village: the Fortaleza Stage carries DJ Fire, Samba Zona Sul, GM Tributo aos Xutos and Humberto Silva e Banda, while the Rocha Negra Stage runs with DJ Aisha, 5Ex Band, DJ Ari Girao and DJ Diego Miranda. In Lagos, a historical reenactment kicks off proceedings in the morning, with music and entertainment building through the afternoon and evening at Cais da Solaria and Jardim da Constituicao, including a vintage swimwear contest and a performance by the Marcha Popular. Tanya and her band take the Lagos stage before the fireworks and the midnight swim itself, with Claudio Rosario carrying the party on afterwards. ONDA buses run free from 6pm on all routes, making it easy to move between Luz and Lagos without worrying about parking.

Paulo das Vacas in concert, Praca do Infante, Lagos, Friday 28 August

The free Friday-evening street entertainment series that has filled Lagos's main square since mid-July closes out with Paulo das Vacas at 9pm. We trailed this one last week and it stands as a good warm-up for Banho 29 the following night: an open-air concert in the square, no tickets, just turn up.

Municipal holiday celebrations, Aljezur, Friday 28 and Saturday 29 August

Aljezur marks its municipal holiday with two days of festivities through the historic zone: live music, street entertainment, food and craft stalls, a Mega Sardinhada, and the west coast's own take on the Banho 29 midnight swim. Free entry throughout. If you would rather mark the night of the 29th somewhere smaller and more traditional than the Lagos crowds, this is the one.

Coming up

Festival Noites no Cais, Lagos, Friday 4 to Sunday 6 September

Lagos's free open-air music festival returns to the Cais das Descobertas for three evenings in the first week of September. The Jardim da Constituicao becomes an outdoor concert garden with a mixed programme across three nights; previous editions have paired fado singers and classical performers with local groups, and the full line-up is announced by the town hall closer to the date. Free entry throughout. One of the better nights to be in Lagos in early September.

Festival F, Vila Adentro, Faro, Thursday 3 to Saturday 5 September

The Algarve's big end-of-summer music festival returns to Faro's walled old town for its 11th edition, three nights of largely Portuguese line-ups across multiple stages inside the Vila Adentro. Further east than our usual patch, but it is the closing act of the Algarve festival summer and worth the drive for anyone staying on into September.

Concierge corner

Last Monday I told you about Banho 29 and made you promise to actually get in the water. This Saturday is the night, so consider this your reminder: Lagos builds from 7pm at Cais da Solaria, Luz has three stages running through the village, and midnight belongs to the sea.

This week, the detail I held back.

Once you're in, don't just bob about at the shore looking out at the dark Atlantic like everyone else. Swim out a few strokes, past the splashing, then turn around and look back. The whole village is lit up and facing you: the stage lights, the crowds on the sand, the music drifting out across the water. It's the only night of the year you'll see Luz like that, from the sea, at midnight, and hardly anyone thinks to turn round and look. I won't tell you how many years it took me.

Two practical notes to go with it. The sea is at its warmest of the entire year this week, warmer than anything a June visitor ever swims in, so the brave face is barely needed. And with the festivities starting at 7pm these days, the beach is busiest just before midnight; the water, strangely, never is.

Towel, warm layer, sandy shoes in hand. You know the drill from last week.

See you out there, facing the wrong way.

Mark

The week's weather

A textbook late-August week: highs from 26 to 29 degrees, lows around 17 to 18 overnight, sunshine through the day with almost no chance of rain. The south-facing coves around Lagos and Luz remain calm and sheltered; the west-facing beaches at Sagres and the coast north towards Aljezur will have a freshening afternoon wind. Sea temperature is at its peak for the year, hovering around 22 degrees. If you have been waiting for the perfect swimming week, this is it.

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