August ends today. FATACIL ran its last concert in Lagoa on Sunday, Banho 29 lit up the waterfront on Saturday night, and the Algarve wakes this Monday into September with a changed pace. The season is not over: the sea is at its warmest of the year, the event calendar is holding strong, and the crowds that define August have begun to ease. The beaches are still warm. The restaurants are still full. But there is a little more room. A good week to be here, or to arrive.

This week in the west

Thousands join the midnight swim as Banho 29 returns to Lagos and Praia da Luz

The annual August 29th tradition played out across both venues on Saturday night, with thousands of people filling the seafront at Lagos and the beach at Praia da Luz. The day in Lagos opened with a historical recreation by the Centro de Estudos de Lagos, tracing the old custom in which people travelled from inland to take a sea bath believed to be worth twenty-nine ordinary ones and to drive away misfortune. The evening built through music stages, swimwear competitions celebrating both tradition and fashion, and fireworks, before the midnight swim brought the crowd into the Atlantic at Praia da Batata and at Praia da Luz. The Luz programme spread across three stages between the fortress and the beach and ran well into the small hours.

The 45th FATACIL closes in Lagoa after ten days

The Algarve's largest annual fair closed on Sunday after ten days at the Parque de Feiras e Exposicoes in Lagoa. The 45th edition of FATACIL ran from 21 to 30 August with hundreds of exhibitors across craft, agriculture, regional food and commerce, and nightly headline concerts on the main stage. The fair returns next August; in the meantime, Lagoa's September runs on a quieter but still worthwhile calendar, starting with the Nossa Senhora da Luz festivities already under way.

Digital art exhibition Core Cuore on now at the Centro Cultural de Lagos

An exhibition exploring hyperconnectivity, identity and the visual language of online culture is running free at the Centro Cultural de Lagos until 26 September, Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 6pm. Core Cuore, curated by the casaBranca collective with support from the national arts body DGArtes, brings together works by five international artists whose practices cross image, sound, performance and the aesthetics of contemporary digital life. The centre sits in the heart of Lagos's historic quarter and entry is free throughout. Worth an hour if you have a lull between beaches and evenings.

What's on this week

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

The Algarve's biggest music festival fills Faro's walled old town for three nights across eight stages, with 67 shows weaving through the historic centre. The programme spans fado, pop, hip-hop, rock and jazz: confirmed artists include Carminho, The Gift, Barbara Tinoco, D.A.M.A, Slow J, HMB and Moonspell, alongside a programme in which roughly a third of the acts are from the Algarve itself. Tickets are paid and on sale now. The drive east from Lagos takes around 45 minutes; the old city is good to explore before the shows start, and a night here is the best send-off the festival summer gets.

Noites no Cais, Cais das Descobertas, Lagos, Friday 4 to Sunday 6 September

Three nights of free music open at the waterfront in Lagos from Friday, with shows starting at 9.30pm at the Cais das Descobertas and Jardim da Constituicao. La Barca perform Friday with Verde mi Sangre, Rojo tus Hojas; Afro Anatolian Tales bring Tarab Dance to the stage on Saturday; and Bandua close the run on Sunday. Entry is free, but advance tickets must be collected from the reception at the Centro Cultural de Lagos; on the night, any remaining tickets are available at the venue entrance from 7pm. An art installation by Nuno Pimenta, made with recycled materials and drawing on Lagos's long relationship with the sea, is on display across all three evenings.

Festas de Nossa Senhora da Luz, Lagoa, through Tuesday 8 September

Lagoa's annual festival in honour of its patron saint is in its final stretch this week, building towards the municipal holiday on Tuesday 8 September. The programme mixes religious observances at the Igreja Matriz de Lagoa with free outdoor concerts and cultural events through the week, with events on both 7 and 8 September beginning from 4pm at the Auditorio Carlos do Carmo. Entry to all events is free. Lagoa is the market town twelve kilometres east of Lagos along the N125, and easily combined with an afternoon visit to Carvoeiro.

Coming up

Eyes of the Algarve, Lagos area, Thursday 10 to Saturday 12 September

A Grateful Dead-inspired weekend arrives in the Lagos area from Thursday 10 to Saturday 12 September. An optional meet-and-greet boat cruise opens proceedings on the Thursday, followed by two days of music at Wake Park headlined by The Grateful Nights from Barcelona. Tickets are on sale now at the event website. A reader flagged this one after the first edition, and the official site confirms the dates and set-up.

Art exhibition with special menu, Chiccas Restaurant, Praia da Luz, Friday 11 September

Chiccas Restaurant on the seafront in Praia da Luz is staging an art exhibition paired with a special menu on Friday 11 September. Chiccas is one of Luz's most reliable dinner spots and the village-front location makes it a natural gathering point on a September evening. Worth noting early, and worth ringing ahead to book if the special menu interests you: further details are available through the restaurant's Facebook page.

Concierge corner

Well. Did you turn round?

I hope you made it in on Saturday night, and I hope you took my advice and swam out past the splashing to look back at the village all lit up. If you did, you now own a memory that most people who visit Luz never collect. If you stood on the sand watching everyone else, there is always next year, and I will remind you in plenty of time.

Now for what nobody tells you about the morning after. Banho 29 is not really a party, it is a handover. The swim marks the moment the Algarve passes from high summer to what people here quietly consider the best stretch of the year. Watch the village this week and you will see it happen: the beach empties a little earlier each evening, the queue at the bakery shortens, and parking spaces reappear in places you had written off in July.

Which brings me to this week's actual advice. Somewhere in Lagos or Luz there is a restaurant you tried to book two or three times in August and gave up on. This is the week to go back. The tables return before the warm evenings leave, and for the next few weeks you get the rare combination of summer weather and a host with time to talk to you. Book the early sitting, notice that sunset now arrives conveniently around dinner, and order the fish.

One small practical note: the sea does not read the calendar. It is still at its warmest right now and stays swimmable for weeks yet, so do not let the first of September fool you into packing the towel away.

Summer is not over. It has just stopped queueing.

Mark

The week's weather

The week opens clear and pleasant at around 28 degrees on Monday, then briefly clouds over and cools to 26 on Tuesday before a strong heat build from Wednesday onwards. Highs of 33 degrees mid-week rise to around 36 on Friday, with warm overnight temperatures in the low 20s from Thursday through to the weekend. No rain is expected all week.

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