"Boys and girls,
Listen very carefully:
After two years without Antoninas
The festivities are back to Famalicão!"
After two atypical years, the city of Vila Nova de Famalicão is now counting down to the return of the Antonine Festivities and here people are already thinking only of the grilled sardines, the aroma of the manjericos, the cotton candy and the dances to the sound of popular music.
The municipal festivities will be held from 9th to 13th of June, with a vast programme consisting of about 40 activities, from which we highlight the Diogo Piçarra concert, the return of "Toninho's" to the delight of the youngest and the grand parade of the Antonine Marches.
Five intense days of festivities blessed by Saint Anthony, marked by countless cultural and sports proposals that will meet the several generations of famalicenses and the many thousands of people who visit the city at this time.
Starting with the various musical performances, all free of charge, with Diogo Piçarra, on the 13, as headliner, Alvorada Musical and Zezé Fernandes, on the 9th, Nuno Portugal and Os Pêgas, on the 10, the musical debut of Jess and Retimbrar, on June 11.
A programme that also includes the ancestral traditions that make the Antoninas de Famalicão one of the most awaited moments of the year by the famalicenses and one of the biggest pilgrimages in the North of the country: the parades, the distribution of bread and the procession in honour of Saint Anthony, the ethnographic parade, the Camillian walk, the cavaquinho meeting and the challenge singing, the festivities, the bonfire jumps, among others.
The Mayor, Mário Passos, sees with "great enthusiasm" the return of the Antonine Festivities in the usual ways. "We are all very eager to live everything that we have been deprived of in the last two years. We can see how much the famalicenses are anxious and excited to be able to celebrate the Antoninas again, the great feasts of our county".
This year, the grand parade of the Marches will once again take to the streets on the night of 12 to 13 June. The preparations have already started and the most expected moment of Antoninas promises to animate the streets of the city centre, in a healthy competition between associations and parishes of the municipality, with the exaltation, pride and passion of who is famalicense. Altogether there are seven marches participating: Recreational and Cultural Association of Antas, Parish Union of Gondifelos, Cavalões and Outiz, Cultural and Sports Association of São Martinho de Brufe, Casa do Povo of Ruivães, Recreational and Cultural Association Flor do Monte - Carreira, Cultural and Recreational Association São Pedro Riba de Ave and LACS - Cultural Association São Salvador da Lagoa. "I am sure that all of them will surprise us", adds the mayor.
Another highlight will be the religious part of the Festivities, on the holiday of June 13, with the procession in honour of Saint Anthony taking place along the main streets of the town. Before that, in the morning, a Mass and the distribution of Bread takes place, in keeping with a centuries-old tradition.
Like almost all popular festivals, Antoninas will also call famalicenses to the practice of sports. This year, there are nearly a dozen races, with highlight to the Bernardino Machado Athletics Grand Prix, on the 12th, to the Camillian Walk and the Crazy Descent, both on the 10th.
The return of "Toninho's" to Praça D. Maria II is one of the great novelties this year. The initiative promises to call the youngest to dance on the night of June 11 to the sound of guest DJs Cubita, Overule & Landu Bi, Diogo Fonseca and Assis Martin.
The little ones have the honour of opening the festivities, with all the tenderness and creativity of the Children's Marches. With their bows perched and hips swinging, the children parade through the city on Thursday June 9.