Poncha and honey are in the same festival because they are in the same glass. The regional version of Madeira's own drink is Madeira rum, honey and orange and lemon juice, worked together with a wooden stick called a mexelote, and for one weekend in January the people who make both bring the two of them to Serra de Água. Beekeepers, poncha producers and craft stalls take stands side by side, the Casa do Povo puts on a talk for farmers and beekeepers alongside the selling, and regional groups and artists play across both days.
- WhereThe praceta at the centre of Serra de Água, a parish of Ribeira Brava in the valley that climbs to the Encumeada pass. The Casa do Povo, which runs the Mostra, is in the same village centre.
- Getting thereAbout forty minutes from Funchal by road, out on the expressway to Ribeira Brava and then up the valley. Rodoeste route 6 stops in the village, but its last run back towards Funchal goes in the afternoon, so an evening here means a car or a taxi.
- Best timeThe stands are the daytime half and the music is the evening half. Saturday runs latest, because the organisers close that night with an open-air disco in the square.
- With childrenIn the daytime, yes: honey, crafts and folk groups in a village square. The late evening is a party built around a drink, which is a different evening.
- If it rainsIt is an outdoor weekend in a mountain valley in the wettest part of the year. Dress for Serra de Água rather than for Funchal, and expect rain in bursts rather than all day.
This is the eleventh edition, and a parish of under a thousand people now takes a weekend's worth of visitors: the mayor of Ribeira Brava counts the Mostra among the municipality's own festivities. Go for the stands rather than the stage. Producers standing a few metres apart are competing on the same drink, which makes this the easiest place on the island to try the regional poncha against the fisherman's and against whatever fruit each maker is working with, and to settle on the one you order for the rest of the trip. It also falls in the second half of January, the quietest and cheapest fortnight of the Madeira year, when there is very little else on.
What People Ask Us About the Poncha and Honey Festival
When is the Poncha and Honey Festival in 2027?
Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 January 2027, on the regional tourist board's events calendar, organised by the Casa do Povo da Serra de Água. The parish holds the Mostra on a late January weekend and publishes the detailed programme shortly beforehand, so check it if you want a particular act or talk.
What is poncha, and which one should I order first?
Poncha da Madeira is a protected regional drink that has to be made with Madeira rum, and the regional version adds honey and orange and lemon juice. Order that one first. The fisherman's poncha swaps the honey for sugar and leaves the orange out, which makes it a good deal drier.
Is it worth the drive from Funchal?
If you want the island's drink at its source, yes, and late January is quiet enough that little else is competing for the evening. Treat it as an afternoon and an evening rather than a full day, and settle how you are getting home before you start on the poncha.
Can I buy honey and poncha to take home?
Yes. Beekeepers and poncha producers take stands at the Mostra and sell what they make, which is the difference between this and a supermarket shelf in Funchal. Anything in a bottle or a jar has to travel in the hold if you are flying.
