Lisbon is a city deeply attached to religion and folk traditions, but also a lively, cosmopolitan European capital with a packed calendar of festivals and big events. There are religious and popular festivals, called festas, and cultural events, festivais and feiras. Here are the main dates of the year; exact dates change from year to year, so check before you travel.
Winter and spring
In February or early March carnival is celebrated: in Lisbon it is a modest affair, but the famous Torres Vedras carnival is less than an hour away. In March the Lisbon Half Marathon is run, starting on the 25 de Abril bridge and finishing in Belém, over about 21 kilometres with splendid views of the Tagus. In March and October ModaLisboa, the fashion week, sees Portuguese designers present their collections.
Between March and April, during Holy Week, the city takes part in processions and Easter rites. On 25 April the 1974 Carnation Revolution is commemorated with a big popular parade on Avenida da Liberdade and red carnations everywhere. Between April and May comes IndieLisboa, an international independent film festival showing the best auteur cinema and rewarding new directors. In May the ARCOlisboa contemporary art fair brings galleries from around the world. 1 May is Labour Day, and between late May and June comes Corpus Christi, a national holiday, with Masses and processions.
June: the Popular Saints
June is the most festive month of the year. 10 June is Portugal Day, the day of Camões and the Portuguese Communities, but the most eagerly awaited event is the Festas de Lisboa, in particular the Popular Saints, culminating on the night of 12-13 June, the feast of Saint Anthony, born in Lisbon and the city's patron saint (13 June is a holiday only in Lisbon).
All month the old neighbourhoods, such as the Alfama, Castelo, Mouraria, Graça, Madragoa and the Bairro Alto, fill with colourful bunting and arraiais, street parties with music, dancing and stalls selling grilled sardines on a slice of bread, bifanas, caldo verde and rivers of beer and sangria. On the evening of 12 June the Marchas Populares, costumed neighbourhood parades competing with songs and choreography prepared for months, march down Avenida da Liberdade before thousands of spectators.
Sacred and profane mingle: the saint's statue is carried in procession and people give each other pots of basil (manjericos) with a little love poem and a paper carnation. Saint Anthony is also the patron of couples, and every year the city organises the Saint Anthony weddings, a collective ceremony for several local couples. Then come the feasts of Saint John and Saint Peter, more popular in other cities such as Porto and Braga.
Summer
Summer is the season of big music festivals. In July, on the riverside at Algés, comes NOS Alive, one of Europe's major rock and pop festivals; the Lisbon area also hosts Super Bock Super Rock and, in even years, Rock in Rio Lisboa, while MEO Kalorama comes at the end of summer. In August the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation hosts Jazz em Agosto, a festival born in the mid-1980s and now one of the city's cultural gems, with concerts in the garden's open-air amphitheatre. 15 August, the Assumption, is a day of processions and many Lisbon residents are on holiday.
Autumn
September brings Queer Lisboa, the LGBTQ+ film festival, and the Alfama fado festival, and in nearby Seixal the big political and music festival of Avante!. 5 October is Republic Day, commemorating the 1910 proclamation, with an official ceremony in Praça do Município. The Lisbon Marathon is also run in October. In November, after All Saints' Day, a national holiday, the city hosts Web Summit, one of the world's largest tech events, and Saint Martin's Day, 11 November, is celebrated with roast chestnuts and new wine, jeropiga and água-pé.
In Óbidos, about an hour from Lisbon, the famous International Chocolate Festival, with chocolate sculptures, is held between spring and summer, and the FOLIO literary festival in October; the village is also famous for ginjinha, sour-cherry liqueur served in little chocolate cups.
December and Christmas
1 December marks the Restoration of Independence from Spain in 1640, and 8 December the Immaculate Conception, patroness of Portugal, both national holidays. Over Christmas the city lights up, with the big Christmas tree in Praça do Comércio and lights decorating the Baixa, Chiado, Avenida da Liberdade, Avenida Almirante Reis and Belém. The year ends with the New Year party on the Tagus. For Christmas traditions see the page on Christmas in Portugal.