The main annual festival is the Feiras Novas, the New Fair, which despite its name, has been an annual event since 1826. Held in a weekend of September the activities are limitless: livestock contests, folklore shows, boat races, fireworks, fairgrounds, processions and wandering minstrels to mention but a few. It takes place after the harvests, normally around the 2nd or 3rd weekend of the month.
The International Garden Festival is very varied and interesting, featuring small gardens designed by different countries with different themes each year. It runs from the end of May to the end of October.
In July each year there is the two-week festival, Percusos da Música, an arts festival with music and opera as well as literature and dance events. The main venue is the town’s theatre but performances also take place in nearby manor houses and down by the river.
Other festivals are the Horse Fair in June, the Vaca das Cordas the day before Corpus Christi (early June) where a bull is chased through the town and Corpus Christi itself when the town’s streets are covered with flowers.