Vila Real, Portugal, May 22, 2026 (Lusa) - The 2026 edition of Douro TGV, a tourism, gastronomy and wine festival in northern Portugal, focusses on markets and consumers, featuring 80 producers and 100 competing wines, while marking the 10-year anniversary of Regia Douro Park, a science and technology park.
Regia Douro Park is organising the event, which runs from 26 to 29 May in Vila Real, a city in Portugal’s northern region.
The park opened 10 years ago and currently hosts around 160 companies, providing 1,000 jobs and generating a turnover of around €50 million in 2025.
"Douro TGV is the hallmark of Regia Douro Park and was created to promote what we do here and connect the entire park, our companies, collaborative laboratories and research areas linked to the region," the park's president, Nuno Augusto, said on Friday.
Lígia Cruz, also from Regia, said that the central theme of this edition, which also marks 25 years since UNESCO classified the Alto Douro Wine Region as a World Heritage site, is "Wines, markets and consumers."
The debate on markets and consumers comes during a wine sales crisis that brings new consumption dynamics and higher consumer demands.
She said they would also discuss sustainability as a tool to access markets.
Officials from the Port and Douro Wines Institute (IVDP, the regulatory body for these wines) and regional wine commissions from the Tras-os-Montes, Vinhos Verdes and Alentejo wine regions will gather in Vila Real.
Around 100 wines from the Douro and Tras-os-Montes regions will enter the competition, while 80 producers showcase their products at the exhibition in the former civil government building, a historical local administration venue in the city centre. Augusto said that the Douro TGV wanted to showcase “the good things” produced in the region.
He gave a highly positive review of Regia's decade, noting it transformed into “the great development hub of the region,” adding that the outlook was to “more than double” its capacity over the next 10 years.
The planned expansion involves an investment of around €600,000 to expand the business incubator, with construction set to begin in 2026.
The park is also preparing a project to build a facility to increase the capacity of the Wine and Vineyard Excellence Centre, an investment that could reach €4 to €5 million, for which it will apply for EU funding.
The park currently hosts around 160 companies across sectors such as agrifood, winemaking, forestry, green economy and the environment, standing out for its focus on innovation and regional resource development.
The business incubator and accelerator also play a central role in supporting startups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), hosting projects from diverse sectors.
The Douro TGV programme also includes a national meeting bringing together 32 science and technology parks, alongside a meeting of social innovation incubators from northern Portugal.
Rita Estacio, also from Regia, explained during the first incubator meeting that the event aimed to foster reflection on social innovation challenges.
She said the Douriis project, the Impact Entrepreneurship Centre, was underway, dedicated to promoting entrepreneurship geared toward the economic, social, and demographic development of the region.
“We want to work and encourage the creation of initiatives linked to retaining young people in the region and valuing everything the territory has to offer,” she said, noting that the park is currently incubating 20 projects.
Vila Real is also developing the Vila Real Innovation Hub to create a community of remote workers, having identified 50 professionals who work online.
PLI/LYT // AYLS
Lusa
