New Year’s Eve
The main venue is Ponta Delgada’s City Gate, where people meet to watch and dance to the concerts and DJs performing there. Right next to it − as if a guardian of the night it were − is Saint Sebastian’s clock (the mother church of the city), marking the twelve traditional midnight bell rings, thus bringing in the new year with a show of fireworks and music, while the people cheer with champagne.
All around the city, hotels, Portas do Mar (the cruise terminal complex of bars, restaurants, a pavilion near the sea), and São Miguel’s Colosseum, organize New Year’s parties that last till dawn. This serves as a warm up for the first bath of the year, on January 1st.