Original text by Chiara Lanari, updated and completed by our editors.
Anyone in Portugal in February, or early March depending on when Easter falls, will be struck by the festive, colourful atmosphere in many parts of the country. Carnival, once called Entrudo, is deeply felt and tied to local traditions. It was the Portuguese Entrudo, with its pranks involving water, flour and eggs, that travelled to Brazil with the colonists and helped give birth to Brazilian carnival. Shrove Tuesday is not a legal holiday, but the government usually gives public employees the day off and many companies do the same.
Torres Vedras
Torres Vedras, about fifty kilometres north of Lisbon, hosts the country's most famous and popular carnival, which calls itself "the most Portuguese in Portugal". Organised as a town festival since the 1920s, at first it had no floats or masks like today's: just groups of people going around in disguise to liven up the town and dance. Over time the festival took on its current form, and today a dedicated organisation prepares new floats and decorations every year.
It is a playful and above all satirical carnival, poking fun at the politicians and celebrities of the moment. The stars are the cabeçudos, giant papier-mâché big-head figures portraying well-known people, and the Zés-Pereiras, bands with bass drums and bagpipes who lead the parades. Every year a Carnival King and Queen are chosen, but by tradition the queen is a man in drag. Also famous are the matrafonas, men dressing up as women in the most grotesque way possible, often in large groups. There is also a summer preview, the summer carnival.
Ovar, Podence and the north
Ovar, south of Porto, holds one of the country's biggest carnivals, with impressive parades of masked groups and samba schools. Completely different is the carnival of Podence, a small village in Trás-os-Montes near Macedo de Cavaleiros: here the caretos, figures in woollen costumes with red, green and yellow fringes, tin or leather masks and belts of cowbells, run through the streets making noise and "assailing" the girls, in a rite of pagan origin linked to fertility and the passage from winter to spring. In 2019 Podence's Entrudo Chocalheiro was added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list. Similar ancestral masks can be seen at Lazarim, near Lamego, where wooden masks are carved and carnival is "buried".
In many villages the festivities end with the Enterro do Entrudo, the burial of carnival, on Ash Wednesday or the evening of Shrove Tuesday.
Loulé, in the Algarve
Loulé, in the Algarve, has held the region's oldest carnival since 1906, with parades of often satirical floats, masked groups and samba dancers along the main avenue over three days. In the past, as everywhere during Entrudo, people threw eggs and flour; today it is more orderly and draws visitors from the whole region.
Madeira
In Madeira too, carnival is a unique chance to be swept up in a festive atmosphere. In Funchal, for almost a week, the city comes alive with shows and music in the squares. On Saturday night there is the great allegorical parade, with thousands of participants, illuminated floats and costumed dancers reminiscent of Rio's carnival, ending near Praça do Município and Avenida Arriaga, where people dance until late. On Shrove Tuesday comes the Cortejo Trapalhão, the "bungling parade", a spontaneous, jokey procession anyone can join with costumes and caricatures.
The Azores
In the Azores carnival is closely linked to folklore and tradition. Terceira is famous for its danças e bailinhos de Carnaval, comic and musical folk theatre written and performed by amateur groups, who for four days tour every theatre and hall on the island from afternoon until dawn: one of the biggest folk theatre events in Europe. There are also masked parades and convivial dinners. On São Miguel, Ponta Delgada holds carnival balls and a children's parade.