Portugal news, in English, every morning. Free.

Subscribe

The Portugal Brief
Subscribe
Guides

Portuguese Festivals and Public Holidays through the Year

Researched and written with AI tools from official sources. How we make our guides

The 13 national holidays and their dates, your municipal holiday, the extra days in Madeira and the Azores, and the big festivals month by month.

The Portugal Brief 9 min read

Portuguese Festivals and Public Holidays through the Year

Last verified: October 2026.

Who this is for

  • You live in Portugal, or are about to move, and want to know which days offices close.
  • You are planning trips, appointments, or time off around holidays and long weekends.
  • You are new here and want to join the big festivals, from Carnival to São Martinho.

Not for you if: you need the rules on holiday pay or working on a holiday. Read Public Holidays in Portugal instead.

Portugal has 13 national public holidays. Every town also has one municipal holiday of its own, and Carnival Tuesday is an optional day off. On national holidays, public offices and Citizen Shops close. Three of the 13 move each year because they follow Easter. The next national holidays are Monday 5 October 2026 (Republic Day), then 1 December and 8 December, both Tuesdays. This guide lists every date for 2026 and 2027, explains municipal and island holidays, and walks through the main festivals of the year.

The 13 national public holidays

These days are public holidays everywhere in Portugal, including Madeira and the Azores. The list is set in the Labour Code, and a collective agreement or job contract cannot add others.

Holiday20262027
New Year's Day (Ano Novo), 1 JanuaryThursdayFriday
Good Friday (Sexta-Feira Santa)Friday 3 AprilFriday 26 March
Easter Sunday (Páscoa)Sunday 5 AprilSunday 28 March
Freedom Day (Dia da Liberdade), 25 AprilSaturdaySunday
Labour Day (Dia do Trabalhador), 1 MayFridaySaturday
Corpus Christi (Corpo de Deus), 60 days after EasterThursday 4 JuneThursday 27 May
Portugal Day (Dia de Portugal), 10 JuneWednesdayThursday
Assumption (Assunção de Nossa Senhora), 15 AugustSaturdaySunday
Republic Day (Implantação da República), 5 OctoberMondayTuesday
All Saints' Day (Todos os Santos), 1 NovemberSundayMonday
Restoration of Independence (Restauração da Independência), 1 DecemberTuesdayWednesday
Immaculate Conception (Imaculada Conceição), 8 DecemberTuesdayWednesday
Christmas Day (Natal), 25 DecemberFridaySaturday

Easter Sunday counts as one of the 13, even though it is always a Sunday. A town may mark Good Friday on another day of Easter week if that day has local meaning.

When a holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, you do not get a replacement day. The law allows some holidays to be moved to the Monday, but only by a specific new law, and none has been moved.

Carnival Tuesday

Carnival Tuesday is not a national holiday. It falls 47 days before Easter: Tuesday 17 February 2026 and Tuesday 9 February 2027.

The law lets employers and workers treat it as a holiday through a collective agreement or the job contract. Check yours. Each year the government decides whether to give public servants the day off (a tolerância de ponto, a one-off day off granted by the government). It did so on 17 February 2026, so most state offices closed.

Public schools close for a short Carnival break. In the 2026/2027 school year it runs from 8 to 10 February 2027.

Your municipal holiday

Every municipality (concelho) has one holiday of its own. Council offices and the local Citizen Shop close. Like Carnival Tuesday, it is an optional holiday for private employers: you get the day off only if your contract or collective agreement says so.

Here are the dates for some larger towns:

MunicipalityMunicipal holiday
Aveiro12 May
Leiria22 May
Lisbon, Cascais, and Vila Real13 June (Santo António)
Porto, Braga, Vila Nova de Gaia, and Almada24 June (São João)
Guimarães24 June (the Battle of São Mamede, 1128)
Sintra and Seixal29 June (São Pedro)
Coimbra4 July (Rainha Santa Isabel, the city's patron saint)
Faro7 September
Setúbal15 September
Viseu21 September
Torres Vedras11 November (São Martinho)

Some towns tie their holiday to Easter, so it moves. Mafra, Vila Franca de Xira, and Loulé mark Ascension Thursday: 14 May 2026 and 6 May 2027.

For any other town, check the council's website or the page for your local Citizen Shop on gov.pt. Each shop's page lists the municipal holiday when it closes.

Holidays in Madeira and the Azores

The islands keep all 13 national holidays and add their own.

Madeira adds three regional holidays:

  • 2 April, Autonomy Day (Dia da Autonomia), first marked in 2025
  • 1 July, Madeira Day (Dia da Região e das Comunidades Madeirenses)
  • 26 December, the day after Christmas

The Azores mark Azores Day (Dia da Região) on the Monday after Pentecost, the Monday of the Holy Spirit festivities. In 2027 that is 17 May.

Bridges and closures

When a holiday falls on a Tuesday or Thursday, many people take the Monday or Friday off too. This is a bridge (ponte). You have no legal right to the bridge day. It comes out of your annual leave unless your employer gives it. December 2026 has two Tuesday holidays, so expect long weekends on 28 November to 1 December and 5 to 8 December.

Before a holiday, plan for these effects:

  • Citizen Shops (Lojas do Cidadão) close on national holidays and on the local municipal holiday. So do the public services inside them, such as Finanças and Social Security counters.
  • Check opening hours for shops, supermarkets, and banks with each one. Many open with shorter hours.
  • Public transport usually runs a Sunday or holiday timetable. Check your operator before you travel.
  • Long-distance trains and motorways are busy on bridge weekends. Book early.
  • Check deadlines. Some official deadlines that end on a weekend or holiday move to the next working day. School enrolment deadlines work this way, for example. Check the rule for your own procedure.

Christmas Eve (24 December) and New Year's Eve (31 December) are not public holidays. The government often gives public servants a tolerância de ponto around Christmas and announces it a few weeks ahead. Expect many offices to close early.

Festivals month by month

Most festivals below are free and repeat on the same dates each year. Check the local council's programme for exact times.

January to April

  • Epiphany (Dia de Reis), 6 January. Not a holiday. Families finish the bolo rei, a ring cake with candied fruit. In the North, groups go door to door singing the janeiras, New Year songs.
  • Carnival, the days up to Carnival Tuesday. Torres Vedras runs a famous Carnival full of satire, with giant figures, allegorical floats, and men dressed as "matrafonas". In the Algarve, Loulé's Carnival parade has floats, samba schools, and political satire.
  • Holy Week (Semana Santa), the week before Easter. Braga holds the country's best known processions. Hooded penitents called farricocos walk in night processions, and street altars fill with flowers and lights. In 2027 the programme runs from 21 to 28 March.
  • Freedom Day, 25 April. Marks the 1974 Carnation Revolution that ended the dictatorship. Expect red carnations and a parade down Avenida da Liberdade in Lisbon.

May and June

  • Festa das Cruzes, Barcelos. Early May, with the main procession on 3 May. Flower carpets, processions, folk dancing, a large fair, and fireworks over the river.
  • Fátima, 12 and 13 May. Pilgrims walk from across the country for the anniversary pilgrimage. The candlelit procession follows the evening rosary on 12 May. A second large pilgrimage takes place on 12 and 13 October.
  • The saints' festivals. June starts with Portugal Day on 10 June. Then the popular saints take over. Santo António is Lisbon's night, 12 to 13 June. São João belongs to Porto and Braga, 23 to 24 June. São Pedro closes the month in towns such as Sintra, 28 to 29 June. Expect street parties, grilled sardines, and fireworks. For the details, read June Saints' Festivals in Portugal (Santos Populares).

July and August

  • Village festas. August is when many Portuguese who live abroad come home. Almost every village holds its festa, usually with a procession, a brass band, a fair, and fireworks.
  • Assumption, 15 August. A national holiday in the middle of the main summer break. Beaches are at their busiest.
  • Senhora da Agonia, Viana do Castelo. The town's big festival, built around 20 August. Processions honour Our Lady of Agony, whom fishermen ask for safe seas, and thousands of visitors fill the town.
  • Feira de São Mateus, Viseu. Its organisers call it the oldest popular fair in the country. It runs for about a month, from 6 August to 6 September in 2026, with concerts, crafts, and regional food.

September to December

  • Grape harvest (vindima). September and early October in the Douro and the other wine regions. Some wine estates offer paid harvest days.
  • Republic Day, 5 October. Marks the end of the monarchy in 1910, with an official ceremony in Lisbon.
  • Fátima, 12 and 13 October. The last large anniversary pilgrimage of the year.
  • Festival Nacional de Gastronomia, Santarém. Regional food and wine from every part of the country. In 2026 it runs from 22 October to 1 November, and entry is ticketed.
  • All Saints' Day, 1 November. Families visit cemeteries. In some areas children go door to door asking for pão por Deus, small gifts of bread or sweets.
  • São Martinho, 11 November. Not a national holiday, but the municipal holiday in Torres Vedras. Roasted chestnuts and new wine appear everywhere, and schools and villages hold a magusto, a chestnut roast.
  • Christmas. The main family meal is the consoada on Christmas Eve, usually salt cod with potatoes, cabbage, and eggs. Many families then go to midnight mass (Missa do Galo).

How to join in

  • Go. Street festivals are public and free, and locals welcome newcomers.
  • Dress for the occasion. Shorts are fine at a street party but not at a procession, in a church, or at Fátima.
  • Book early. Rooms near the June festivals, big Carnivals, and August festivals fill weeks ahead.
  • Expect noise. Fireworks, church bells, and brass bands are part of every festa. If you live near a church square, keep earplugs for June and August. For your rights on noise, read Dealing with Noise and Neighbours in Portugal.
  • Carry cash. Many stalls at village festas take cash or MB WAY only.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Holiday rules for your job depend on your contract and any collective agreement; check them before you plan time off.

Sources

This guide is written from official sources and, where relevant, organisations' own websites.

Last verified October 2026. Rules and fees change; check the official source before acting.

Read next