In Lisboa, June is a whole month of Festas de Santos Populares. There are a lot of neighborhood parties, with booths for food and drink in public squares. Grilled sardines is the signature dish, but there is plenty of other street food too.
Santo Antonio is the patron saint of Lisboa and he has the biggest celebration. He was born in Lisboa and is also known as Santo Antonio de Padua (Italy), where he died in 1231. In Portugal, he is known as the patron saint of marriage.
In Lisboa, June 12 is the party day and the church procession happens on June 13, his death date and an official holiday.
We went to Lisboa on June 12 to see all the people in costumes and funny hats and watch the nighttime parade on Avenida da Liberdade. The parade is a series of performances. The neighborhoods compete and perform a dance program for several grandstands along the parade route. Also part of the parade are the sixteen couples who got married on this day in the Lisbon Cathedral, expenses paid by the city.
The tradition of a mass wedding has its roots in the 17th century and was revived in the 1950s to help poor couples afford to marry. Read more about Saint Anthony in this Portugal Travel Guide article or in Wikipedia (some of the facts differ!).
Funny hats include sardine hats, Super Bock and Sagres clown hats, wedding veils, and green fuzzy wigs. I wondered if the green wigs had to do with the tradition of giving a basil plant to one’s beloved. This article confirms my guess.
