Yes, another festival. They seem to have followed us from Spain. And not to be outdone by the Spanish, Porto’s Sao Joao is the whole month of June. So, what is this you ask?
It’s a festival celebrating St. John the Baptiste in Porto and Porto only it seems. The event, dating back some 600 years seems to have a lot of pagan roots but according to Wiki, the St. John part was only integrated in the 19th century. It has since become the most important celebration of the year in Porto. It’s said that it is one of the liveliest street festivals in the country although not many people outside of Portugal know of it. And lucky us, we’re here at the right time with a front row seat! Just what we needed after the Nations Cup soccer and the NOS music festival!
We have to admit though, it was sorta fun. The festival culminates on Midsummer, June 23rd and it is massive. Everywhere there are amphitheaters with music, carnivals, parades, bonfires (which people jump over), street food and drink, and a bazillion people. This culminates at midnight with fireworks, the largest being off the Ponte Luis I (bridge). Then the party really gets going. The bands don’t start up the music until 1am and go all night. We didn’t get to see the bridge fireworks as there were just too many people and you can’t move an inch once you are there but there were many other fireworks all over the city. People also sent up flame-powered (candles?) lanterns (thousands) which float in the sky all night. Basil plants in pots seem to be a thing too and while most of them are for sale, some of the events, like the parades, give hundreds of them away for free. As we were close to this happening event, Teresa, being a good little gardener and not one to pass up freebies, rushed down to grab a pot along with many other people. A little chaotic and I think she had to beat off an old lady to acquire hers, but she did manage to score a plant. Not sure what the hell we’re going to do with it. It’s not like we can bring it on the plane with us. Heat of the moment, yes?
There also seems to be a festival tradition of carrying long shoots of fresh garlic (about 6 feet long with the flower at the end) AND plastic hammers. I kid you not and if you walk around taking in the festivities like we did, be prepared to be bonked on the head by either a garlic plant or a plastic hammer…or both. I am not making this up…really.
And lastly, in the wee hours of the morning when the sun starts to rise, there’s the tradition of walking along the river, singing, eating, and drinking, from downtown to the marina district, about 8km. I guess we’re not traditional. We made it past mid-night, saw some fireworks, and hit the hay, thankfully suffering no ill affects from the hammer blows.
