Semana do Mar

Every August the marina of Horta fills with sails for the Semana do Mar, the nautical week that has run since 1975 on the Faial Island. Regattas, whaleboat races and swimming crossings share the bay with concerts and street food, in the port that transatlantic yachtsmen know as the crossing point of the Atlantic.

A week of the sea in the port of the yachts

Horta’s marina is famous for the paintings left on the walls by the crews of every yacht that crossed, and in August the painted harbour becomes the festival ground. The whaleboat races honour the island’s whaling past, rowed by crews from the neighbouring islands of Pico and São Jorge, and the regattas bring the sailing fleets of the archipelago.

Faial between the islands

The festival week fills the streets of Horta between the Marina and the old town, with the volcano of Capelinhos and the Caldeira do Faial in the island’s interior as the outings between races. The bay looks across the channel to Pico’s mountain, and the sea crossings of the week keep the islands connected as they have always been.

What to see

• The regattas and whaleboat races in the bay of Horta
• The painted walls of the marina of the transatlantic crews
• The concerts and street life of the festival week
• The volcano of Capelinhos and the Caldeira of Faial
• The view across the channel to the mountain of Pico

Practical information

The festival takes place in Horta on Faial island, in the central group of the Azores, reached by air or by ferry from the neighbouring islands. It is held every August; check the official websites for the programme before travelling.

Image credit: Semana do Mar by Vitor Oliveira from Torres Vedras, PORTUGAL — CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.