Photo Diary: Guide to the traditional costumes of Viana do Castelo & Minho
One of my favourite experiences in Portugal was witnessing the Mordomia Parade where more than 900 women proudly marched by wearing the ornate traditional costumes from their village. While the poster of the festival of d’Agonia, which falls every August, usually features a beautiful young woman wearing the most famous traditional red dress from Viana […]
Romaria d’Agonia: The most beautiful traditional festival in Portugal
If Mattel was to make a Portugal Barbie, the traje de Viana would be the costume. After the train passes Porto the hills turn green and we pass vineyards that line the tracks and corn fields at their peak. Stone towns and cabbage patches zip by as we chug north towards Viana do Castelo, the […]
Cork masks, a burning effigy and plenty of wine: the traditional Schist Villages carnival
The sound of a gaita (bagpipe), drums, accordions and chatter emanates from the centre of Aigra Nova, a tiny one-resident schist village near Coimbra, in central Portugal. It’s 8.30am on a sunny winter Sunday and the usually quiet streets are a hive of activity. A stream of villagers starts rolling down a steep cobbled street […]
Festa dos Tabuleiros: Tomar’s colourful Festival of Trays
Thirty 400-gram bread rolls are weaved into a human-size, paper flower-covered tower balanced precariously atop the 748 women marching by. Hundreds of these flowery 1.5-metre high piles bob through the enchanting Central Portuguese riverside town of Tomar on the shoulders of strong local ladies. The bearers range in age from 20-something to their 80s. Some […]
Sardines & pimba: Your 2024 guide to Lisbon’s Santo António Festival
Every June the smell of sardines and sound of pimba music ricochets through the narrow cobbled streets of the city’s most traditional neighbourhoods. The start of summer is a wild and wonderful time to be in Lisbon. In late May locals start constructing temporary bars and barbecues, and hang colourful streamers and decorations ahead of […]