Public holidays in Portugal

Public holidays celebrated in Portugal are a mix of religious (Roman Catholic), Town, City, national and by Autonomous regions of Portugal.

Public holidays in Portugal

				Autonomous Regions
Date	English name	Portuguese name	Notes
1 January	New Year's Day	Ano Novo		Y	Y
moveable	Carnival	Carnaval	Carnival in Portugal is an annual festival, that ends on Shrove Tuesday (called Fat Tuesday in Madeira - Terça-feira Gorda in Portuguese) the day before Ash Wednesday (first day of Lent). This is an optional holiday, although it is usually observed. 47 days before Easter Sunday.	Y	Y
moveable	Good Friday	Sexta-feira Santa	Friday before Easter Sunday	Y	Y
moveable	Easter	Páscoa	Sunday, date varies. *	Y	Y
25 April	Freedom Day	Dia da Liberdade	Celebrates the 1974 Revolution that ended the Dictatorship and started Democracy	Y	Y
1 May	Labor Day	Dia do Trabalhador	Similar to Labor Day in the States.	Y	Y
1 June	Azores Day	Dia dos Açores	Celebrated in Azores		Y
10 June	Portugal Day	Dia de Portugal, de Camões e das Comunidades Portuguesas	National Day	Y	Y
1 July	Madeira Day	Dia da Madeira	Celebrated in Madeira Island	Y
1 November	All Saints Day	Todos os Santos	In terms of Western Christian theology, the feast commemorates all those who have attained the beatific vision in heaven.	Y	Y
1 December	Restoration of Independence	Restauração da Independência	Celebrates the end of the Iberian Union (1580–1640)	Y	Y
25 December	Christmas Day	Natal		Y	Y

* - Computing the Date of Easter: The Date of Easter The Date of Easter

Local holidays

Date	English name	Portuguese name	Notes
19 Março	St. Joseph's Day	Dia de São José	Celebrated in Santarém.
13 June	St. Anthony's Day	Dia de Santo António	Celebrated in Lisbon where on the Avenida da Liberdade, there are the Marchas, a parade of folklore and costumes from the city's different traditional quarters, with hundreds of singers and dancers and a vast audience applauding their favorite participants. As St Anthony is the matchmaker saint, it is still the tradition in Lisbon to celebrate multiple marriages (200 to 300).
24 June	St. John's Day	Dia de São João	Celebrated in Porto, Braga, Figueira da Foz, and Almada. Porto and Braga celebrate with a big festival and fireworks over the River Douro (in Porto) and down Avenida da Liberdade (in Braga). Across the country a traditional midsummer bonfire is also built and following an ancient pagan tradition, revelers try to jump over the bonfire, this in order to gain protection during the rest of the year.
21 September	St. Matthew Day	Dia de São Mateus	Celebrated in Viseu

External links

• Religious Festivals in Madeira 2011
• Madeira Events 2011