3 Best Performing Arts Venues in Estremadura and the Ribatejo, Portugal

Also known as FOLIO, the International Literature Festival was launched as part of a broader initiative to establish Óbidos as a vila literária (literary town). The focus was at first on Portuguese-language writers, but organizers have branched out with guests such as Leïla Slimani and Porto resident Richard Zimler. This annual event is scheduled for late September or October.

In late October or early November, Santarém each year hosts the National Festival of Gastronomy, the longest-running in Portugal. It's held in the Casa do Campino, next to the bullfighting ring, where numerous restaurants from all over the country come to showcase the top best culinary delights of their area and establishment. The festival includes competitions in various categories of cuisine—often with the opportunity for you to try the winners' wares—and you are guaranteed to eat well here. There is also plenty of handicrafts, folk music, and dancing.

This long-running festival offers two weeks, usually in July, of top-quality piano music, some of it free. Most concerts in Óbidos (there are a few in Caldas da Rainha) are staged in the compact Casa da Música near the main gate, and given the town's small size you may well end up rubbing shoulders with a star performer—or even Portugal's president, the event's patron—during your stay.