Festas Gualterianas

Every August, Guimarães celebrates its great festival: the Festas Gualterianas, days of cortejo, music and fireworks that fill the city in honour of São Gualter, the patron of Guimarães. From the Campo da Feira to the historic centre, the festival brings together the traditions of the city — the marchas, the fair, the concerts and the fireworks — in one of the oldest popular celebrations of the north of Portugal.

The festival

The Gualterianas keep a tradition that goes back centuries in the life of Guimarães, renewed through the twentieth century and kept as the festival of the city. Through the days of the celebration, the cortejo and the marchas run through the streets, the Campo da Feira hosts the fair and the concerts, and the night closes with the fireworks over the city — the great festival of a city that is itself a monument.

What to see

• The cortejo and the marchas through the streets of the city.
• The fair of the Campo da Feira and its concerts.
• The fireworks over Guimarães, on the closing nights.
• The historic centre of Guimarães, alive with the festival.

Visiting

The festival is held each year in August, over several days, with the programme published by the municipality and the organisation; the streets of the centre are the stage, and the concerts and the fair animate the Campo da Feira. Guimarães is easily reached by road and train, around an hour from Porto.

Nearby

The city of Guimarães and its castle — the cradle of Portugal — are the natural stage of the festival.

Information: cm-guimaraes.pt.

Image credit: Gualterianas, Guimarães, by Feliciano Guimaraes, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.