Popular saints in Portugal: Get to know everything about this Portugal tradition

In Portugal, during the month of June, the Popular Saints’ festivities take place throughout the country. The main festivities focus on São João, Santo António and São Pedro, which are celebrated from north to the south of the country, in various regions. With this in mind, Guerin invites you to know everything about this great tradition, so that you can enjoy a complete itinerary of the popular saints in Portugal, in 2022!

Meet the Popular Saints:

Santo António

In the center of Lisbon, from the 12th to the 13th of June, Santo António is celebrated. It’s a great night of party, where there’s dancing, parties and where the population comes out to eat, drink and have fun in the streets of popular neighborhoods, decorated with bows, colorful balloons and manjericos.

Born in Lisbon, Santo António was baptized as Fernando de Bulhões, and is known for Sermão de Santo António aos Peixes, from Padre António Vieira. He died on June 13^th, which coincides with the date on which Santo António’s Day is celebrated, in memory of this saint.

He is also known as a matchmaker, making history in helping people to marry. According to the legend, it’s tradition to place the image of Santo António upside down to help find love.

It’s also during Santo António that the popular marches of each neighborhood take place. They parade along Av. da Liberdade towards Rossio, where you can see the city filled with hundreds of participants, music and colors.

In neighborhoods like Alfama, Graça, Bica, Mouraria or Madragoa, you can find several stalls to eat caldo verde and grilled sardines. There’s also a procession of Santo António, which on the 13th leaves its church, located in Alfama, next to the cathedral, in the place where this saint was born.

São João

São João is mostly celebrated in Porto, on the night of the 23rd to the 24th of June. The origin of this tradition focuses on the story of John the Baptist, mentioned in the Gospels of the Bible. June 24th marks the birth date of John the Baptist, who was considered a miracle maker in the book of Luke.

In addition to the great celebration in Porto, it is also held in Braga, Almada and Angra do Heroísmo, in the Azores, with parades, marches, floats, dances and dancers.

During the festivities, you can find people in downtown Porto with São João hammers, that are part of the tradition. The goal is to hit people on the street with rubber hammers, which is seen as a playful game among the locals. Manjericos are also bought with small poetry alluding to São João, which were formerly chosen by boyfriends to present to their girlfriends.

In terms of gastronomy, you can find several restaurants and stalls that sell typical Portuguese food, including the famous grilled sardines that are typically eaten in bread, and roasted peppers. It's a night where typical food and dancing takes place in several places in the center of Porto, all night long.

São Pedro

At the end of the month, on the night of the 28th to the 29th of June, São Pedro is celebrated, mostly in Póvoa do Varzim, Sintra or Évora. Peter is the apostle of Jesus, known as the first pope of the Catholic Church. In Portugal, the festivity is also held in several cities such as Montijo, Castro Verde, São Pedro do Sul, Seixal, Macedo de Cavaleiros, Ribeira Grande, Felgueiras and Bombarral.

In these festivities there is a tradition of jumping the bonfire and offering manjericos with small pieces of poetry alluding to the saint. In addition to the usual dancing, at night you can taste the typical cuisine of the Popular Saints!

Celebrate the Popular Saints in 2022 with Guerin car rental!

In this month of festivities, it is important to guarantee your transport to these regions, so that you do not miss any of the events in this tradition lived in Portugal. Trust Guerin, and rent your car of choice in Maia, Porto, Lisboa, Cacém and Évora, so that you are as close as possible to celebrating the Popular saints in 2022!