Portuguese National Holidays

Portugal was once a dictatorship. But in April 25th, 1974, there a Revolution that brought democracy to our country. It was led by the military and the people joined them on the streets to end a thirty-year-old dictatorship. This Revolution is also known as the Gillyflower Revolution, because there were no strong confrontations and people carried this flower in their hands. Nowadays, every 25th April people celebrate this day. There are celebrations on the streets. People join together and spend a joyful day, saying thanks for the arrival of liberty. The President always makes a speech to remind people of the importance of keeping our democratic country a free country

The 8th December is a religious holiday for Portuguese people. We celebrate Virgin Mary’s Day, mother of Jesus. For many years, this was also the day when Mother’s Day was celebrated, but now this day is celebrated on each first Sunday of May. Anyway, Virgin Mary’s Day is very special for us. Portuguese people are Catholic, so we are quite devout to Jesus mother.

February CARNIVAL In February we celebrate CARNIVAL. It used to be a national holiday, but today, it is only a holiday for some people, in some cities of Portugal, because os EU regulations… People prepare this celebration along the whole year. People usually use Carnival to make social and political criticismo.

1st Day of MayWorker’s Day On the 1st Day of May, we celebrate the Worker’s Day, as in many other countries. It was in 1886, in Chicago, USA, that a group of workers started a demonstration to fight for their rights as workers. This led to a national strike in several other States and from then on, workers started to organize themselves to fight for better working conditions.

10th of JuneNational Day On the 10th of June, we celebrate our National Day. The patron of this special day is one of our most famous poets, Luís Vaz de Camões, who wrote all about the Portuguese dids during the Discoveries. He was born on the 10th of June, 1580.

15th of August The 15th of August is a national catholic holiday. Portuguese celebrate the day that Mother Mary went to be side by side with God. People go to the Church and pray on special messes.

EASTER April EASTER is another celebration that makes every first Sunday of April a national holiday. It is a Catholic celebration. It celebrates Chrit’s ressurrection after three days of being crucified. Religious people go to Church for a prayer. At home, family gets together and ofer each other chocolate eggs and almonds.

8th December Virgin Mary’s Day. On the 8th December we celebrate another Catholic National Holiday: Virgin Mary’s Day. Mother Mary was officialy recongnised as a dogma by the Pope Pio IX, in 1476.

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