The Annual Portuguese Mariners Food & Wine Festival

Come & celebrate this rich, filling and full-flavoured feast.

Port Edward goes Port Uguese…

Port Edward is home to the Sao Joao and the Sao Bento shipwrecks. These wrecks left a wealth of artefacts on the site.

The Sao Joao was wrecked in 1552 while on a return voyage to Portugal from India. Her cargo was richly laden and reported to be “worth a million in gold”.  But little of her cargo of spices, silks, tapestries, carnelian beads, porcelain and china has  ever been recovered. 395 survived the wreck with only a handful surviving a long journey on foot to Mozambique.

The Sao Bento was wrecked just south of Port Edward in 1554 with only 24 surviving long enough to be picked up by a Portuguese Ship. This festival commemorates these events and celebrates their maritime history. The idea has caught on and this event is growing as a full maritime festival.

In 2008, the Portuguese Community decided to bring the sardine feeding-frenzy on shore and broke The Guiness Book World Record previously set by the Kuwait Tourism Board. 1739kg of seafood was prepared and served at a single sitting. Over 7200 people turned up to enjoy the feast.

With an exquisite line up of Portuguese fair and entertainment we expect 2000 people to turn up and enjoy the exotic side of Portuguese cuisine is indebted to the voyages of discovery, spices from India, oranges from China and Coffee from Angola and Mozambique.

PROGRAMME OF EVENTS