Portugal Holidays - 2003

New Year's Day is the first day of the year. On the modern Gregorian calendar, it is celebrated on January 1.New Year in Portugal is welcomed with a midnight party - either at home with family and friends or gathering at a pub or club. New Year festivity in Portugal is marked by cheering, whistling, kissing and lavish drinking bashes.Remarkable among the various New Year traditions in Portugal is the custom of having twelve grapes on the New Years Eve midnight. Portuguese pick and eat twelve grapes from a bunch as the clock strikes twelve on New Year's Eve. It is believed that this custom would ensure twelve happy months for the coming year.

Carnival is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent. Portugal celebrates this festival to signal the end of the winter season and the beginning of Lent.The main events are usually during February. Carnival typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party. People often dress up or masquerade during the celebrations, which mark an overturning of daily life.Carnival in Portugal is celebrated throughout the country, most famously in Ovar, Madeira, Loulé, Nazaré, and Torres Vedras

Good Friday is the Friday within Holy Week, and is traditionally a time of fasting and penance, commemorating the anniversary of Christ's crucifixion and death. For Christians, Good Friday commemorates not just a historical event, but the sacrificial death of Christ, which with the resurrection, comprises the heart of the Christian faith.

According to Christian scripture, Jesus was resurrected from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion.Christians celebrate this resurrection on Easter Day or Easter Sunday(also Resurrection Day or Resurrection Sunday), two days after Good Friday and three days after Maundy Thursday.Easter is a major religious festival of Christians celebrated in a grand manner with feasts, fasting and prayer.Easter in Portugal is celebrated with sweet bread called Folar da Pascoa. The bread is usually served at breakfast on Easter morning but more often as a dessert after Easter dinner. Church services and religious ceremonies take place throughout the celebrations which culminate on Easter Sunday.

Freedom Day is a public holiday to mark the end of the Fascist dictatorship of António de Oliveira Salazar, which ended in 1974 after 48 years.The regime was overthrown by the military led by Otelo Saraiva do Carvalho in a bloodless revolution known as the Carnation Revolution, as the soldiers placed flowers down the barrels of their guns.There is little public celebration as there is a mix of opinion; there are some official commemorations but the right wing believe that it was a coup detat. So this is more a day of resting and many shops are closed.

Labour Day or Labor Day is an annual holiday celebrated all over the world that resulted from the labour union movement, to celebrate the economic and social achievements of workers. The majority of countries celebrate Labour Day on May 1, and it is popularly known as May Day and International Workers' Day.Worker's Day in Portugal its an holyday like the others for parents to spend some time with theyr childs, or just to relax. The 1st of May also in Portugal represents the unionized workers that try to emprove the working conditions evryday.

Corpus Christi is a Christian observance that honors the Holy Eucharist. It is also known as the Feast of the Most Holy Body of Christ, as well as the Day of Wreaths.In Portugal the feast is known as Dia de Corpo de Deus and has been one of the major religious observances both on the mainland and in the Azores since medieval times.

Every 10th day of June, the Portuguese celebrate their national holiday known as Dia de Portugal in the native tongue. The rest of the world recognizes this momentous occasion as Portugal Day. This date commemorates the death of Luis de Camoes, a significant figure in the history of Portugal.

The feast day of the Assumption of Mary, also known as Assumption Day, celebrates the day that the Virgin Mary ascended into Heaven following her death, according to popular Christian belief. It is the principal feast day of the Virgin Mother.It is celebrated annually on or around August 15 by many countries, particularly in parts of Europe and South America.This day is also known as the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God (in the eastern countries), or the Feast of the Assumption.

Republic Day celebrated on 5th October each year in Portugal. This holiday celebrates the end of the Monarchy and the beginning of the Portuguese Republic in 1910.

All Saints' Day is a celebration of all Christian saints, particularly those who have no special feast days of their own.In many western churches it is annually held November 1 and in many eastern churches it is celebrated on the first Sunday after Pentecost. It is also known as All Hallows Tide, All-Hallomas, or All Hallows' Day.In Portugal, churches ceremonies are held in memory of the patron’s saints of chapels, churches and parishes. Later on the day, people will bring flower arrangements to the graves of dead relatives and light candles as a symbol to enlighten their way into Heaven. It is common to buy on this day a very typical Portuguese cake called Velhote, or Old Man in English.

Portuguese Restoration War was the name given by nineteenth-century 'romantic' historians to the war between Portugal and Spain that began with the Portuguese revolution of 1640 and ended with the Treaty of Lisbon (1668).On this day there is no work in Portugal. There are several cultural events promoted by the local governments, and the majority of Portuguese remember on this day honor their historical heritage from monarchic times when Portugal used to be one of the most important countries in the world.

The Immaculate Conception Day celebrates the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary.In 1646, the king D. João IV proclaimed officially that Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception was the nationwide patron saint of Portugal, giving special importance to the date of December 8 for all Portuguese. It is celebrated on December 8.Daily Catholic masses are held on this day as a celebration of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, and she is remembered by most Portuguese as Our Patron Saint. Celebrations are held especially in Fatima, where it is believed that Our Lady appeared to three little shepherds in 1917.

In Portugal, Christmas is celebrated with great fun and fervor. Catholicism being the predominant religion of the country, the festival is observed here with as much solemnity as festive gaiety.A major Christmas tradition here is setting up the Creche, the representation of Christ's nativity in the stable at Bethlehem. Catholicism is the main religion in Portugal. Thus, the Creche is a very important part of the celebration. During the Christmas day Portuguese people visit the friends and family and have a big lunch normally with roast chicken, lamb or turkey.