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Celebrate Lisbon's traditional festivities
June has a very special charm, as it is when the Lisbon's traditional festivities take place. 2022 marks the return of these traditional festivities in honour of Saint Anthony, after 2 years of interruption. This year the capital will once again be filled with music, joy, and colour with a party atmosphere that you can't miss. If you are thinking of visiting Lisbon in June, the popular marches and festivities in the typical neighbourhoods are some of the many reasons to do so.
Live the true neighbourhood spirit
With several free admission events, Lisbon is fully decorated to host various artistic and cultural initiatives throughout the month of June. People come out to celebrate, dance, eat, socialise, and have fun in the streets. Thousands of people celebrate in the most typical neighbourhoods such as Alfama, Graça, Bica, Mouraria, Bairro Alto, Madragoa, among others, where popular festivals are organized with traditional music, food and lots of entertainment throughout the month. The streets are decorated with balloons, coloured ribbons, lights and basil, and when it comes to gastronomy, grilled sardines are the main attraction, but there are other Portuguese delicacies to satisfy different tastes. There is a party waiting for you in every neighbourhood of the city.
Lisbon’s traditional festivities do not exist without...
...the Popular Marches
On the night of Saint Anthony, 12th June, Avenida da Liberdade is filled with colour, music, dance and lots of joy with a unique and unmissable parade. This spectacle is composed of 20 groups that represent their neighbourhoods with a march where everything is thought to detail… from costumes, choreography, accessories, music... everything! Many people dedicate months to preparing the march that they will present on this night, which must be as perfect as possible. In the end, there are prizes for the marches that stand out in categories such as choreography, scenography, music, costumes, among others.
This year, the theme of the popular marches will be the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Amália Rodrigues, paying tribute to the one who is considered the best Portuguese fado singer of all times. Come and experience the marches!
...and the Saint Anthony’s Weddings
During the 12th of June, love is in the air in the streets of Lisbon with the wedding of 16 couples in love. The Saint Anthony’s Weddings are a tradition that began in 1958 as a way of enabling people with financial difficulties to get married and have a beautiful wedding party. Saint Anthony is known to be a matchmaker saint, so there is nothing better than getting married at the time when the festivities are celebrated in his honour.
But how did all this start?
The Lisbon's traditional festivities have been celebrated in June for centuries and are dedicated to Saint Anthony, the patron saint of the city, but some say that they were celebrated even before the existence of this saint. There are several historians and archaeologists who relate the origin of the city's festivities to the celebration of the solstice and summer harvests. The truth is that the June festivities have always had the same goal: to celebrate summer and life.
Visit Lisbon in June and celebrate life in this beautiful city with music, festivities, marches, sardines, basil and lots of fun!
