The Santo António festivities in Lisbon are one of the most eagerly awaited moments of the year. In June, the city’s streets and neighborhoods fill up with people eating sardines on bread, drinking beer and, of course, dancing to the best Portuguese popular music. But what is Lisbon’s favorite festival?
We like all the arraiais in Lisbon, from the simplest to the most alternative, but our readers have their own preferences and, as with the marchas populares, where everyone defends their neighborhood with quatrains and manjericos, we wanted to know which was their favorite festival in Lisbon.
The answers follow… and so does the big winner.
The arraiais of Alvalade, Penha de França, Santa Catarina, Campo de Ourique, Santa Engrácia and Praça da Alegria were among the least mentioned in this small survey on the social networks of Lisboa Secreta , but that doesn’t mean that the entertainment on offer is any less spectacular, as you can see in each of the posters from these parishes/neighborhoods.
The arraiais of Parque das Nações (Navegantes), Marvila, Pedralvas, Arroios, Alcântara, Castelo, Santo Amaro and Bairro Alto (Misericórdia), got several mentions, but they still don’t have the popularity of the neighborhoods we’ll get to know next in this list of Lisbon residents’ favorite arraiais.
The arraiais of Alto do Pina, Ajuda, Carnide, São Vicente (Voz do Operário), Madragoa and Vila Berta were mentioned a lot in our survey, and many people choose them to visit and have fun during the popular saints in Lisbon.
But the truth is that they are not yet in the category of the next batch, with the best Santo António festivals in the city.
The count of Lisbon’s favorite festivals is complete with the festivals in Mouraria, Benfica, Campolide, Bica and Graça.
But there’s still one missing, the neighborhood that most Lisboners prefer to spend their “Santos” in.
Almost all the neighborhoods where there are popular saints’ festivities in Lisbon were mentioned, but only one could be the winner.
And, unsurprisingly, not least because it is also one of the most famous neighborhoods across borders, the arraial preferred by Lisbon residents is the Arraial de São Miguel, which takes place all over the Alfama neighborhood, especially near the Escadinhas de São Miguel.
