WESTERN EUROPE - Clean Breaks: 500 New Ways to See the World - page 60

082 party in the Sun at boom,
portuGal

083 the alternative alGarve,
portuGal

Twenty thousand revellers each year come to
Boom, Europe's greatest outdoor dance-music
festival, which takes place for a week over the
August full moon on a lakeside ranch about
60km from Lisbon. In true summer-of-love
fashion it combines non-stop dance music with
eco-idealism: here you'll find sustainability
workshops, recycling and composting bins, a
permaculture garden and generators powered on
vegetable oil and solar power. In the meantime
dancing goes on throughout the days and nights
- on a beach, in a forest where an ambient music
stage is set, or in the world music area based
around a huge campfire.
For people wilting under the heat, the shallow
hilltop lake provides the perfect place to cool
off (and acts as a glistening mirror when the
full moon rises). By late morning it's dotted
with people lolling on inflatables or sitting half-
submerged on deckchairs that they have sunk
into the lake's bed. Further relaxation is on offer
at various tents and stalls selling a range of
massage, yoga and other alternative therapies to
restore tired bodies and minds.
And when the week-long party is finally over,
there's still the option of more to come - a three-
day afterparty in the surrounding forested hills,
where you can hike wooded paths or just lie back
in the shade and wind down to ambient beats.
You won't see many wellies at this festival,
however. There's little chance of it raining in
Portugal in August, and even if it did people
would be more likely to run out for a cool shower
than hide in their tents. This is a party in the
sun - and in this scorched part of Europe, that's
about as guaranteed as it gets.

It may be the Algarve, but come to Monte
Velho Nature Resort - in the Costa Vincentina
National Park overlooking the Atlantic swell -
and you'll hardly see a soul. Near the small town
of Carrapateira, the converted farmhouse (run
mostly on wind and solar energy, with water
from a well) has seven colourful rooms enlivened
with paintings from local artists, plus a sitting
room with country sofas and a wood burner for
winter. Hammocks are strung outside your room,
and you can have breakfast on a terrace with
views over pine forest and dense scrubland to
the sea.
Monte Velho's hilltop setting makes for a
peaceful retreat (yoga courses are offered) but
the main attractions here are the spectacular
beaches and coastline. You can take a donkey
ride down to the nearest beach at Carrapateira,
or alternatively Praia da Bordeira - one of the
best surfing beaches in Portugal - is just a few
kilometres further to the north. A restaurant
just back from the beach, O Sitio do Rio ( T
[phone]; closed Tues), uses largely
organic produce for fresh soup, simple grills
and stir-fried veggies. Another excellent beach,
Praia do Amado, is 4km to the south, where you
can take surfing lessons (equipment rental and
courses from E 40 a day; T [phone]).
You can also go on guided mountain-bike trails
through the park and along the coast. After a
day tumbling in the surf, walking or cycling
along the coast, it's great to be able to return for
a massage in one of the resort's two Moroccan
tents and then head out to one of the locally run
restaurants. The crowded resorts further along
the coast will feel like a thousand kilometres
away.

Need to know For further info see W www.
boomfestival.org; T [phone]. Ticket
prices vary depending upon when you buy, how
long you come for and where you live. Shuttle
buses to the festival run from Madrid, Lisbon and
Porto; see website for details.

Need to know Carrapateira is 90km north of
Faro. Other than an occasional weekday bus
from Vila do Bispo, there's no public transport to
Carrapateira so you will need to hire a car. For
prices and reservations see W www.wonderfulland.
com/montevelho; T [phone].