We’ve been meaning to head over to the garden ‘Largo December 1’ in Portimão – it’s the one in front of the municipal theatre – to have better look at the ‘Yarn-bombing’ that took place on the 21st March to herald spring.
The pretty gardens have been transformed by the most amazingly colourful and vibrant display of crochet and sewing, wrapped beautifully around the trees.
Luckily the weather hasn’t affected the display, which is still there in all its glory. Over 150 senior citizens and 200 schoolchildren took part in the project, and each tree has a sign displayed showing which group or organisation dressed each tree:
As well as the main trees which are wrapped in colourful blankets, there are also some delightful smaller birds and objects nestled amongst the trees and bushes:
The colours are fantastic, and only seem to make the park seem even more pretty than usual:
One of my favourites was the cockerel hanging from a branch:
Even the flowerbeds have been transformed with crocheted flowers .. shame they couldn’t add the grass too!
The detail is most impressive, some of these must have taken hours to make:
Yarn bombing seems to have taken the world by storm – I think this is the first time it has reached Portimão though! It seems to sit nicely against the backdrop of the local café, and the gardens are full of both locals and tourists taking photographs and exploring.
It really is a wonderful thing to view – and it’s worth taking your time to wander around the gardens several times – each tour will reveal something new to delight you:
The gardens themselves, although small, are very pretty, with tiled seating areas illustrating the history of Portugal, and contain a pretty fountain where the birds can be seen having a bath!
The seating areas have also been transformed with birds and flowers hanging from the arbours – there is so much to see and enjoy in such a small area:
The flowers are everywhere:
One of the real delights for me was suddenly looking up into one of the trees and seeing a beautiful series of felt birds hanging from the branches:
And then to spot the most intricate bird feeder – complete with bird of course:
Even the real birds seemed quite at home with it all too!
The walkways have even been transformed by paper flowers nestled into the grass:
So if you are near Portimao – head over to the garden and enjoy the yarn-bombing while it lasts!
And well done to Portimão Council and all of the agencies, groups and schools that took part in this unique and special event.
Algarve Blog 
Thank you so much for these wonderful photos. This is our favourite place to sit in the sun with a coffee ( and pastel da Nata ) when in Portimao and it looks just beautiful like this. Well done to everyone who made a contribution.
Ayr, Scotland
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hope you can make it back out to see them before they disappear!
They’re brilliant! I’m so glad you not only made it over there but also shared the pics. I haven’t seen any in Coimbra this year but hopefully our streets will be getting a splash of woolly colour too.
so glad we made it over there – and can’t believe how busy we’ve been that it has taken this long!
The park looks so pretty! Yarn bombing is really fun! Very intricate designs and a lot of work, well done to all the participants.
yes it’s a big thumbs up from us too!
What a great project. I have seen some yarn bombing but nothing as elaborate this.
it is pretty impressive!
Looks brilliant, and brings a whole new meaning to “Tree hugging” !!
it sure does! 😉
Thank you for these beautiful photos. I always enjoy the photos in each blog.
I wanted to mention that every Saturday there is a biological produce market right in this garden area. The food is all certified organic. Its nutritional quality can’t be beat and the prices are excellent. Last week, there were peaches, cherries, apricots to mention everything else, including several kinds of beans, jams and more. I go there each week to buy all my produce and have gotten to know the women-growers, both of whom are passionate about providing bio food to people in the Algarve.
oh wow! thank you for sharing this – we had no idea that happened – we will definitely go there soon and check it out! thank you again
You are most welcome! The market starts around 9:30 – 10 and goes to 2. There are two growers, Carla, of Horta da Torre and Patricia who represents an organic farm near Lagos owned by a woman named Fatima. The location is beautiful, of course, but does not give them high visibility. I have offered to help them and am now putting up some beautiful posters made by Carla’s sister. I know you must have a large audience for your blog, so if you feel inclined to do a feature on the market at some point, it would be wonderful. Though only two growers, the variety of food available is absolutely wonderful…. but it is good to get there closer to 10 than 2.
thank you we would be most happy to do a feature on the market – if you would like to email us the poster we can share it too – email to a3art@live.co.uk and we will let you know when we have been …
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Awesome! Encourages us to yarn bomb again in Paso Robles, California.