It’s our favourite time of year again! The Silves Medieval Fair is in town and the beautiful city of Silves has been transformed:

We have blogged about this wonderful extravaganza for several years – here’s last year’s post Spectacular Medieval Fair at Silves and here was our post from 2011 Silves Medieval Fair

This year the tickets are even cheaper – just 2 Euros will get you in for the evening – and 4 Euros will buy you a Pulseira wristband that will get you entry for all 10 nights of the Fair. Shows are extra but still only 5 Euros for a ticket – it’s great value for money! 

For the first of our posts this year, we thought we would focus on the shopping and market stalls that are proudly displayed all through the fair – this really is a shopper’s delight, with a myriad of different products and good quality crafts for sale – here are a selection for you starting with the colourful belly-dancing clothing:

Fantastic brightly coloured lanterns:

and wall lights beautifully displayed:

There is so much pottery to choose from:

and leather goods and bags:

glassware and ornaments:

and a rather fetching set of chairs – perfect for the conservatory!

The selection of dried fruit and nuts are lovingly arranged:

and rather tempting too!

The sandals are piled up;

and the sun is so bright on the jewellery that it’s hard to capture:

There are lots of old-fashioned children’s toys:

and marble carvings:

and sandals on display:

The material laid out is so colourful:

and the home-made candles made us smile:

The cork bracelets are always a favourite:

And if you fancy an elegant afternoon tea we know just the accessory you need:

A girl can never have too many handbags!

There are also more unusual items for sale like these African masks:

and African prints:

One of our favourite things was this model’s head which seemed to be suspended in mid-air …

You can pay a lot – or a few Euros – for your jewellery depending on the style and quality of the piece:

And even buy a plate from Queen Nefertiti!

Our favourite stall-holder Sergio Silva is back with his wonderful handmade swords:

we are loving his shop sign!

Although round the corner is an altogether more dangerous set of tools! Can’t imagine Health and Safety in Britain letting these be sold!

Alyson has got her eye on one of these lovely ceramic fish – think it will look fab hanging in the studio!

and if your feet start hurting – you could always buy a pair of sheepskin slippers!

And accessorise it with the latest in Medieval fashion:

The pottery is everywhere – even on the ground where you walk:

And if you start to feel tired of all that shopping – the comfy sofas are going to look very appealing!

So why not book a reservation at one of the many restaurants that line the square and enjoy a meal whilst you look over all your purchases – although it is only fair to warn you that so far all of these shots have been taken from the entrance of the Fair to the City Gate … there are as many stalls again up and around the Cathedral to enjoy … but perhaps we’ll save those for another post!

Next time we will be blogging about the wonderful people and faces of the fair .. so watch this space for more later this week!

Although we’ll try and make sure that they are a bit more lively than this pair:

If you have enjoyed this post – you might also enjoy finding out more about the beautiful city of Silves here:

Castle, Cathedral, Cobbles and Medieval Charm