The Mercado Medieval de Óbidos is staged inside the Cerca do Castelo, the walled enclosure below Óbidos castle, and spills into the lanes of the town. It runs for about 11 days in the second half of July; the 2026 edition, the 24th, ran 16–26 July under the theme ‘A Aleivosa: Amor e Ruína’, built around King Fernando I and his controversial queen Leonor Teles.
Each year the market follows a historical storyline. Inside the enclosure are craft and food stalls, taverns, a tournament field with mounted knights, a camp, falconry, jugglers, musicians and fire shows, and daily costumed parades through the streets. A ticketed ‘Serão Real’ (royal evening) banquet with a show is held on selected nights. Costume hire stands sit by the entrance, and visitors in 12th–14th-century dress pay a reduced entry price.
Opening hours in 2026 were 17:00–midnight Monday–Thursday, 17:00–02:00 on Fridays, 11:00–02:00 on Saturdays and 11:00–midnight on Sundays. Standard tickets cost €12 (age 12 and over) and €8 for children aged 4–11; younger children and Óbidos residents enter free. Family packs, student/senior discounts and group rates are available, costumed visitors pay €10 (€6 for children), and the ‘Serão Real’ dinner tickets cost €89–99 for adults. Gates close when the enclosure reaches capacity, which happens on busy Saturday nights.
Óbidos is about 80 km north of Lisbon, an hour by car on the A8; express buses from Lisbon’s Campo Grande terminal stop at the town. Parking is outside the walls. Weekday evenings are far less crowded than weekends.
