The Nature Tourism Association invites participants to «think, visit and celebrate the Southwest of Portugal» between March 26 and April 1.

Associação Rota Vicentina is celebrating the arrival of Spring with the third edition of Semana ID (ID Week) between March 26 and April 1. The initiative is designed to “affirm and disseminate the identity of the Alentejo and Vicentina Coast in its various dimensions”.

Semana ID is taking participants on a sustainable journey through nature, heritage, culture, people and landscape, where the local community and project partners are invited to help construct the programme.

The Rota Vicentina has promoted this networking over the last few years, giving rise to an annual seven-day event bringing together much of what the region offers throughout the year.

Marta Cabral, president of the Rota Vicentina Association, explains that “ID Week is not a festival, it does not have headlining acts, nor does it transform the region into something that it is not all year round. We only challenge those we know to prepare the best that the Southwest offers, as far as tourism is concerned”.

Semana ID starts symbolically at kilometre zero of the Rota Vicentina, in Santiago do Cacém, on March 26 and ends on April 1 in the village of Sabóia, in Odemira, in a festive atmosphere with traditional music and dance.

Throughout the week and across the territory, the programme offers a variety of outdoor activities, including landscape interpretation and conservation walks; beach cleaning initiatives; boat trips on the Mira River or in Lagos; bird watching and bike rides in various parts of the region.

It is also an excellent opportunity to discover or learn more about biodiversity and rewilding and learn about some pioneering projects in the conservation and environmental regeneration area.

Other activities include guided tours to meet local producers and artisans and gastronomic tastings.

There will also be an artistic tribute to Liberdade Sobral, a sculptor and ceramist from the region, as well as concerts, exhibitions and documentary screenings.

During Semana ID, several lodgings will add specific programmes to their usual offer, including guided walks and wine tastings.

Families with children can enjoy children’s plays and puppet-making workshops. The Forte do Pessegueiro will be exclusively open to the public during ID week. An opportunity not to be missed.

The seminar “Tourism: a barometer of sustainability in rural territories” will be held on March 31. The meeting brings together public entities and specialists from various areas to discuss the relationship between tourism and the (integrated) occupation of the territory, the landscape, the agricultural and forestry mosaic, and the local and circular economy, not to mention the communities.

The complete Semana ID schedule can be found here.