Throughout the approximately three weeks of festivities, in addition to the traditional stalls selling crockery, handicrafts, food, drinks and entertainment, the streets, with decorative lighting, will be occupied by shows by music bands, folklore groups or ethnographic groups, according to the schedule published on the municipality’s official website.
One of the new features of this year’s edition is the Marcha dos Bonecos, a parade of giant puppets inspired by the puppet fire show and clay figures in general, which will take place on the 10th, 11th and 12th of May.
The procession will leave from the town hall building to the churchyard of the Church of Bom Jesus de Matosinhos.
Among the various shows, the concert by singer Diogo Piçarra stands out, on May 17th, at 10pm, in the Florbela Espanca Library gardens.
The traditional fireworks take place on May 18th, at 00:00.
The main attraction of these festivities is the devotion to the Lord of Matosinhos, which is why on May 19th there will be a procession of Bom Jesus de Matosinhos, at 4:00 pm, through the streets of the city towards the Monument of the Lord of Padrão.
On May 21st, a municipal holiday, a solemn mass of Bom Jesus de Matosinhos will be celebrated at 11:00, presided over by the auxiliary bishop of Porto, Pio Alves.
The Church of Bom Jesus de Matosinhos, which on this occasion has its altars artistically decorated with flowers, can be visited between 9:30 am and 12:00 pm.
In connection with these festivities, the Matosinhos Chamber launched a campaign to encourage purchases in traditional commerce, giving prizes to those who present invoices with a taxpayer number for a value equal to or greater than 5 euros.
The lucky roulette wheel will be at Jardim Basílio Teles and the prizes will range from tickets to the Marés and Quinta da Conceição swimming pools and municipal museums, book offers, trips on the Ferris wheel and carousels, popcorn, plenty of food, cotton candy and vouchers of purchases to be exchanged at participating stores.
“This year, the festivities promise a lot of entertainment and unique moments”, said the president of Matosinhos City Council, Luísa Salgueiro, in an initial note published in the official festivities schedule.
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