One-Year Anniversary & St. Anthony

June 11th marked our one-year anniversary of moving to Portugal.  It's been an exciting year, and we are truly enjoying our new Portuguese life.  It just so happened that the annual Feast of St. Anthony was taking place on June 12th in Lisbon, so we decided to head north to experience it firsthand and to commemorate our first year in Portugal.

The Feast of St. Anthony is celebrated (despite the fact that St. Vincent, not St. Anthony, is the patron saint of Lisbon) with music, dance, drink, and sardines.  Due to Covid, the festival had not taken place since 2019, so the city was in a mood to party.  We traveled to Lisbon on a hot weekend and stayed in an AirBNB which overlooked the city.

View from our AirBNB

The St. Anthony festival has many traditions.  It is a popular day for couples to be married, and 16 couples of modest means were specially selected by the Lisbon city government to enjoy an all-expense paid wedding at the Church of Santo Antonio.

In the evening of the 12th, there is a large parade down the main street of Lisbon, the Avenida da Liberdade.  Each Lisbon neighborhood sponsors an entry in the parade, and there is a fierce competition to determine the best group.  

Sardines, which have just come into season, are associated with St. Anthony as they were a traditional dish of the poor.  We found sardines grilled on the streets throughout the city, prepared by restaurants, cafes, and individual families.  

The biggest, wildest celebrations are at the "arraiais" or neighborhood parties which happen at more than a dozen locations throughout the city.  These celebrations start in the late afternoon and will go well into the night.  In some neighborhoods, the parties are held nightly throughout the month of June.