This week the western Algarve settles into one of its best modes: past the main summer surge but still warm, the sea at its peak temperature and the event calendar holding its own. The Guitar Festival of Lagoa opens its 13th edition on Friday evening across venues in the municipality, and the weekend brings both fado at the Antiga Lota in Portimao and the inaugural World Beer Groove at the Fortaleza de Santa Catarina on Praia da Rocha. If September is when the Algarve exhales, it is doing so with music in its ears this week.

This week in the west

A new Bishop takes office for the Algarve this Saturday

D. Vitorino Jose Pereira Soares is installed as Bishop of the Algarve on Saturday 19 September at 11.30am at the Se Catedral in Faro. He was appointed by Pope Leo XIV on 14 July, succeeding D. Manuel Neto Quintas, who has served as apostolic administrator in the interim. D. Vitorino comes from the Diocese of Porto, where he served as Auxiliary Bishop; he will now take on a diocese covering every parish in the Algarve, from Alcoutim in the east to Vila do Bispo in the west. The installation ceremony at the cathedral is public and is expected to draw communities, families and representatives from across the region. Faro is a 45-minute drive east of Lagos along the Via do Infante.

Twenty thousand plastic bags turned into art at AlgarveShopping

Algarve-born textile artist Vanessa Barragao has installed "Genesis" at AlgarveShopping, a large-scale work comprising three suspended sculptures created from around 20,000 discarded plastic bags collected from the shopping centre itself. The installation, part of Barragao's ongoing "Rebirth" project, required more than 2,500 hours of handwork and takes its inspiration from marine ecosystems and natural regeneration. It is free to visit and on show until 28 September. Barragao's textile work is recognised internationally; this is a rare chance to see a major piece of hers close to home. AlgarveShopping is at Guia, near Albufeira, about 35 kilometres east of Lagos.

Core Cuore digital art exhibition enters its final fortnight in Lagos

The Core Cuore exhibition at the Centro Cultural de Lagos closes on Saturday 26 September, which makes this week a good opportunity to go if you have not yet done so. The show brings together five international artists whose practices cross image, sound, performance and the visual language of digital culture, and it is free to visit Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 6pm in the heart of the historic quarter. It has been running since August and the final run-in often coincides with the pleasantly quieter part of September.

What's on this week

European Mobility Week, Lagos, Wednesday 16 to Tuesday 22 September

Lagos joins the annual European Mobility Week from Wednesday, with a programme that has practical benefits for visitors as well as residents. The A ONDA urban bus network runs at no charge on all ten routes across the municipality throughout the week. Activities include a regional night walking event on Friday 18 September with three route choices of one, four and eight kilometres beginning at 9pm; morning fitness sessions in Luz on Saturday 19 September and a five-kilometre walk from Odiaxere on Sunday 20 September; and Car-Free Day on Tuesday 22 September, when a section of Avenida dos Descobrimentos closes to traffic from 9am to 5pm. This year's theme is "Mobility for all." The free buses alone make the week a good one for leaving the car at the villa.

13th International Guitar Festival, Lagoa, from Friday 18 September

The International Guitar Festival of Lagoa opens its 13th edition on Friday evening and runs until Wednesday 1 October, with concerts spread across venues throughout the municipality. The programme spans classical, world and flamenco guitar, with some concerts free and others ticketed. This festival has quietly become one of the most reliable events in the September calendar and the setting of an outdoor evening concert in the Lagoa countryside, as temperatures ease towards dusk, is particularly rewarding. The full programme is on the festival website. Lagoa is 12 kilometres east of Lagos on the N125.

Portimao World Beer Groove, Fortaleza de Santa Catarina, Friday 18 to Sunday 20 September

The inaugural Portimao World Beer Groove takes over the Fortaleza de Santa Catarina on Praia da Rocha for three days, bringing together 13 beers from countries including Japan, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Scotland, England and Portugal, alongside gourmet street food. Admission is free. The schedule runs Friday 18 September from 6pm to midnight, Saturday 19 from noon to midnight, and Sunday 20 from noon to 10pm. Sunset hours carry chillout and deep house DJ sets giving way later in the evening to pop and rock classics. The fortress sits right on the Praia da Rocha seafront and is one of the more satisfying open-air settings in the western Algarve; the organisers have the backing of Portimao council for this first edition. Portimao is 24 kilometres east of Lagos.

Ha Fado na Lota, Antiga Lota, Portimao, Saturday 19 September

The third concert in the Ha Fado na Lota series takes place at the Antiga Lota on the Arade riverfront on Saturday evening, with Teresa Viola and Pedro Viola performing, accompanied by Vitor do Carmo on Portuguese guitar, Antonio Correia on viola de fado and Jose Santana. The series runs every Saturday through to 10 October; all concerts are free and begin at 9pm. An exhibition on fado's history and its UNESCO inscription, at the Antiga Lota until mid-October, provides context before and after the music. The restored fish market on the Portimao riverfront is an unusually atmospheric venue and well worth the drive from Lagos on a clear September evening.

Marta Lima: High Tide, Centro Cultural de Lagos, Saturday 19 September

Lagos-born singer-songwriter Marta Lima performs her High Tide show at the Auditorio Duval Pestana in the Centro Cultural de Lagos on Saturday evening, tickets at 10 euros. Lima grew up in Lagos, studied jazz in Lisbon and has built a following with her emotive, introspective songs; this homecoming performance in the town's main cultural venue is the kind of evening worth planning around. The cultural centre is in the heart of Lagos old town, and Saturday evenings in September lend themselves naturally to a good dinner beforehand and music to follow.

Coming up

12th Oktoberfest, Vila Vita Biergarten, Porches, Thursday 24 September

The Vila Vita Parc resort at Porches stages its 12th Oktoberfest in the hotel's gardens on Thursday 24 September, free to enter. This is a rather pleasant version of the format: an outdoor biergarten in the Lagoa countryside rather than a temporary tent, and the resort grounds are a good setting for an early autumn evening. Porches is on the N125 between Lagoa and Armacao de Pera, about 20 kilometres east of Lagos.

European Researchers' Night, Centro Ciencia Viva de Lagos, Friday 25 September

The annual European Researchers' Night lands at the science centre in Lagos on Friday 25 September from 5pm, bringing scientists and researchers into direct contact with the public through experiments, demonstrations and talks. The Lagos edition is a good one for families and for anyone curious about the marine and coastal science that underpins so much of the region's character. Entry details will be confirmed closer to the date on the Lagos municipal website.

Concierge corner

The walk that comes back this week

There's a walk that starts ten minutes from my front door that I refuse to do in July and August. This is the week it comes back on the menu.

Stand on the beach at Luz and look east, and the dark cliff staring back at you is Rocha Negra, the black volcanic face that closes off the bay. The path up starts at the eastern end of the village, and I won't pretend otherwise: the first twenty minutes are a proper climb. Take water, wear actual shoes rather than flip-flops, and time your first rest for the moment the whole of Luz unfolds behind you. White houses, the church, the full curve of the bay. It's the best view of the village there is, and you've earned it by then.

After that the hard work is done. The clifftops open out and the walking turns easy, past the old obelisk on the headland, an old survey marker that makes a good excuse for a photo stop, then along open clifftop with the Atlantic putting on a show below you, all the way to Porto de Mos.

My advice is to do it one way and do it in the morning. The light is at its best, the heat hasn't arrived, and you'll have most of the path to yourself apart from a few locals and their dogs. Then make Porto de Mos the reward rather than the halfway point. The sea is still close to its warmest of the year, so swim off the climb, take a long lunch at the beach, and get a taxi back to Luz rather than marching home again in the midday sun. This is a walk, not a fitness programme.

Why now? Because in high summer this route is a punishment. There is no shade up there, not a scrap, and I've watched too many pink and wobbly visitors coming down it at 2pm in August looking like they've been somewhere terrible. In September the whole thing changes character. Cooler mornings, softer light, emptier path, warm sea at the end. The walk hasn't moved. The weather has finally come to meet it.

One serious note before you go. Stay on the path and keep a sensible distance from the edges. These cliffs are beautiful precisely because the Atlantic keeps carving pieces off them, and the warning signs are not decoration. The view is exactly as good from two metres back.

If you've been coming to Luz for years and have never done it, this is the fortnight it was made for. And if you pass a man near the top admiring the view and pretending he isn't catching his breath, say good morning. It's probably me.

Mark

The week's weather

Monday opens warm at around 31 degrees under clear skies, with Tuesday easing back to 29 and a fresher breeze arriving midweek. Wednesday is the coolest day of the week at around 25 degrees, though there is no rain anywhere in the forecast and beach conditions stay excellent throughout. Temperatures recover gently from Thursday, reaching a comfortable 29 by Saturday. No rain all week. The sea is at its warmest of the year right now, and every day of the forecast is a beach day.

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