National holidays in Portugal
|
Date |
Name |
Remarks |
| January 1 | Ano Novo(New Year’s day) | Beginning of the year, marking the traditional end of “holiday season”. |
| Tuesday,date varies | CarnavalCarnival) | Not an official holiday, but usually declared by the government as a non-working day. It gained Christian connotations and now marks the first day of a 40-day period before Easter Week (Semana Santa, Holy Week), thus also known as Entrudo. |
| Friday,date varies | Sexta-feira Santa (Good Friday) | A Christian religious holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. |
| Sunday,date varies | Páscoa(Easter) | Easter. Used for family gathering to eat Pão-de-Ló and Folar (an Easter cake), as well as Easter eggs. In the Northern part of the country, a sort of church members processions (compasso) visits and blesses every home with an open door, thus meaning they are Catholics. |
| April 25 | Dia da Liberdade (Freedom day) | Celebrates the Carnation Revolution, marking the end of the dictatorial regime. Event of 1974. |
| May 1 | Dia do Trabalhador (Workers’ day) | International Workers’ Day. |
| June 10 | Dia de Portugal, de Camões e das Comunidades Portuguesas (Day of Portugal, Camões, and the Portuguese Communities) | Portugal Day. Marks the date of Camões’ death. Camões wrote Os Lusiadas (The Lusiads) Portugal’s national epic. Event of 1580. Celebrated in many of Portuguese communities abroad. |
| August 15 | Dia da Assunção (Assumption day) | Assumption of Mary. |
| December 8 | Dia da Imaculada Conceição (Immaculate Conception day) | Immaculate Conception. Patron Saint of Portugal since 1646. |
| December 25 | Natal(Christmas day) | Christmas Day. Celebrated from the 24th to the 25th as a family gathering, where people eat codfish with potatoes and cabbage, roasted turkey, seasonal sweets and dry fruits, drink Port wine and share gifts. |