A few minutes before 11 pm, the train from Porto arrived at Braga station and, from inside the carriages, dozens of UMinho students came out celebrating, in bright tunics and robes, carrying the “cat’s coffin” on their shoulders.
“It’s the second time I’ve come to the wake, although last year I didn’t see it at the station, but in another place. It’s a different way to start our academic week”, Matilde Silva, a second-year Biochemical Engineering student, told JN.
For the finalists, the emotion is different. “These days are very important, because we are leaving [da universidade]. The imposition of the insignia and the procession are other highlights”, assured Beatriz Rodrigues, who is completing her final year in Biomedical Engineering.
After leaving the station, always under the rain, the procession continued to Largo do Paço in a (very) slow manner, with several stops in between, mainly for photographs, group hugs or to enjoy the beers that a van from organization transported.
This Saturday morning, the ceremony to impose badges on students finishing their university career will take place in Braga and Guimarães. At night the concerts begin at Gatódromo, located in Forum Braga, with Jüra, Slow J and Badoxa.
Dillaz (7th) and Quim Barreiros (8th) are other names that will appear on the Enterro da Gata stage, as will Lon3r Johny on the 6th, Luciana Abreu on the 9th and Plutónio and Mundo Segundo & Sam The Kid on the 10th. . The academic procession takes place on Wednesday afternoon in the center of Braga.
