VIVA LISBOA ! FESTA DE SANTO ANTONIO

June is the month of the Festas dos Santos Populares (Feasts of the Popular Saints).

Lisbon nights are filled with lively festivities that take place all over the ancient historical centre.

On the eve of Dia de Santo Antonio, June 12,  Lisbon turns into one big party!

The festivities can be traced back to an event in the 13th century, when Santo Antonio  travelled to Rimini from Lisbon.  The people of Rimini failed to appreciate his sermons so he decided to preach to the fish instead.  To the amazement of everyone,  masses of sea creatures appeared above the waves, eager to hear what he had to say. Today, the people of Lisbon remember the story by hosting huge street parties and feasting on grilled sardines from June 12th-14th.

The narrow streets  of  Castelo , Mouraria, Graça , Alfama,  Ajuda  and Bairro Alto are filled with people in a party mood, enjoying caipirinhas, mojitos, beer and wine on the steep cobbled hills of Lisbon’s historic centre.  The houses lining the narrow streets are decorated with garlands,  paper lanterns, streamers and coloured lights hanging  from balconies and railings. Also an essential element is MANJERICO . As a symbol of affection, people present each other with little pots of basil (manjerico) and paper carnations with sweet little love poems.

                                                                               FADO

There is a place called Largo de Severa in memory of one of the most famous Fado singers, she was made eternal in the painting by José Malhoa.  

The largo that bears her name is surrounded by a warren of narrow streets know as Mouraria, the home of many famous fado singers now commemorated by huge photos on the walls. 

As in Alfama this area has remained little changed since Moorish times as it was hardly damaged by the 1755 earthquake.  The  Moors  withdrew into this quarter after Lisbon was conquered by the Christians– a ghetto for people of different faiths arose.
 In the 19th century prostitution and fado, which was considered to be indecent, brought the quarter a bad reputation.

The renovation of houses and an improvement in the living standards of the inhabitants of Mouraria has begun recently. The area is full of typical grocery stores, old tavernas and cheap (but good!) small restaurants. Mouraria is one of the livliest areas during the celebrations.

 It is said that the melancholic sounds of the music and singing of the Moorish people was the basis of fado music. The quarter is still today associated with fado.

The ‘Casa de Severa’ at Largo da Severa 2 was the home of the legendary fadista Maria Severa Onofriando, who died at the age 26 on November 30, 1846, either from suicide or tuberculosis.

Famous  fadista Amália Rodrigues, the ‘queen of Fado’ was born near Mouraria on Rua Martim Faz.

 Maria Severa is regarded as the first fado singer to have risen to fame, attaining a near-mythical status after her death: Maria had a passionate liaison with a nobleman, Conde de Vimioso. The affair ended badly but the scandal increased fado’s appeal, leading to the publication of its first sheet music

Fadistas, as fado singers are known, often wear a black shawl of mourning, as Severa did after her heartbreak. Her story epitomizes fado’s connection with saudade, “a feeling of longing or nostalgia”

SARDINHAS

Every bar and club  shuts its doors and moves  outside.

 Charcoal grills glow and huge quantities of sardines are grilled to perfection, no knives and forks, the etiquette is to delicately take off the charred skin and bones, place on bread and enjoy  sardinhas assadas no pão!  

                            SARDINE THEME.......SARDINE HATS AS APHRODISIACS !

PIMBA  is  a variety of popular Portuguese folk,  solo singers and bands set up on the streets, it’s loud and raucous, the words  frequently driven by sexy metaphors

SANTO ANTONIO  ( known as Saint Anthony of Padua)  matchmaker, protector of young brides and patron of the lost and found, was  born in Lisbon, on the site of the Santo Antonio church.

It was customary for local single girls to write a list of boys’ names on pieces of paper, scrunch them up and place them in a bowl of water under their beds.  In the morning, their perfect match was revealed as the name on the piece of paper that had unravelled the most.  Some girls took  more extreme measures, according to one festival tradition known as ‘blackmailing St Anthony’,  a small statue of the saint is placed upside down in the ground, the statue is only returned to its proper position when the saint successfully finds her perfect man.

Men  present the girl of their dreams with a basil plant containing a paper carnation and small love poem.  If all goes according to plan the happy couples may be taking part in next years multiple weddings  known as casamentos de santo António which take place during the festivities.