Interns Adventures: Festas de Lisboa

June is officially in full spring in Lisbon, and with it comes the arrival of the much anticipated Festas de Lisboa, part of the Santos Populares (All Saints Month). Throughout June, the whole country has events to celebrate their respective Patron Saints. These include huge street parties, music and sardines! Following on from Covid Restrictions, this is the first year the city of Lisbon has celebrated since 2019 so it promises to be a huge event.

The biggest day of Festivities is the night of the 12th June, when people flood to the streets of the whole city to join in on the festivities. The most popular and traditional areas for this are the old districts of Alfama, Graca and Mouraria. They are completely full of stalls selling beer, sangria and delicious Portuguese foods such as Sardines and Bifanas. It really is a magical time to be in the city, with such amazing energy and excitement felt throughout it is easy to see why it is so looked forward to all year.

I think all interns can agree that they had a fantastic evening, full of fun, food and wine! It really is a great time to be in the city especially as the festivities go on all month. Every evening you can find an Arraial (street party) and enjoy a truly Portuguese evening!

It is also worth mentioning that Porto have a very similar event only a week later to celebrate their own patron saint. So for those of us that simply cannot wait until next year, it is a must visit!