The biggest festivities in the municipality of Vila Nova de Famalicão are just around the corner, bringing with them grilled sardines, the sweetness of farturas and verdant manjericos, popular afternoons and evenings to the rhythm and brilliance of the Marchas Antoninas and performances by Mariza, SLOW J, Valter Lobo and Nuno Ribeiro.

SLOW J performs at the start of the Antoninas de Famalicão 2025, on 6 June, on a night when there's also ‘Toninho's’, the festival that usually brings the youngest to the party to the sound of DJs. On the 8th, it will be Valter Lobo's turn to take to the stage. On 9 June, fado singer Mariza joins the Famalicão Youth Orchestra (JOF) for a concert that promises to be unforgettable. Nuno Ribeiro will close the biggest festivities in the municipality of Famalicão on the evening of 13 June.

But the Antoninas of Famalicão are not just about music.

With a programme full of four dozen activities, those who visit Vila Nova de Famalicão between 6 and 13 June will find a city in constant turmoil, with entertainment for all ages, waterfalls and streets decked out to welcome those who arrive.

Classified as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Portugal, the highlight of the festivities will be the grand parade of the Antonine Marches, which will show off their grandeur and the result of months of hard work by the 9 associations that will walk the streets of the city: A.R.C.A. - Associação Recreativa e Cultural de Antas, Associação Unidos de Avidos, Associação Recreativa e Cultural Flor do Monte (Carreira), Associação do Coração - Vale São Cosme, Associação Cultural e Recreativa S. Pedro de Riba Ave, LACS - Associação Cultural S. Martinho de Brufe (A.C.D.S.M. Brufe). Pedro de Riba de Ave, LACS - Associação Cultural S. Salvador da Lagoa, Associação Cultural e Desportiva S. Martinho de Brufe (A.C.D.S.M. Brufe), Associação Sentir a Terra (União de Freguesias Gondifelos, Cavalões e Outiz) and Associação Humanitária dos Bombeiros Voluntários Famalicenses.

In the year of the bicentenary of the birth of Portugal's greatest novelist and inspired by the theme ‘Camilo Castelo Branco in Vila Nova de Famalicão’, the marches will parade through the streets of the city on the eve of Saint Anthony's Day, 12 June, starting at 21h15. 

In addition, because the festivities start at an early age, we should highlight the stilt marchers who parade at the beginning of the festivities, on 7 June. With their bows perched and their hips swaying, the children parade through the town with all the tenderness, joy and creativity of the Children's Marches, starting at 14h30.

The Festas Antoninas entertainment programme also includes concerts by Pedra D'Água (on the 6th), Ivo Abrantes (on the 7th), Costinha (on the 7th), Fammashow (on the 11th) and Teresa Tapadas (on the 12th), as well as the 6th Cavaquinho Festival, on the 7th, the Popular Music in the Square afternoon on the 8th, and the 18th Camillia Walk, the 11th ‘Tocá Bombar’, the ‘Tons de Festa’ Ethnographic Parade and the Folklore Festival on the 10th of June.

Also noteworthy is the religious aspect of the Festivities: on 13 June, a municipal holiday, the Mass and distribution of the Bread of Saint Anthony takes place first thing in the morning, fulfilling a centuries-old tradition with thousands of people gathering in Rua Alves Roçadas, next to the Chapel of Saint Anthony, to receive the Bread ‘that can be kept all year round’, thus fulfilling one of the oldest traditions of the Antonine Festivities. The procession in honour of the Patron Saint, which will run through the main streets of the city, is another of the religious highlights, on June 13, starting at 16h00.

The Antoninas de Famalicão are also synonymous with sports, with various events taking place over the eight days of the programme, with the highlight being the 14th Bernardino Machado Athletics Grand Prix on Sunday 8 June.

It's worth remembering that the Famalicão Antonine Festivities are included in the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage (INPCI), as a result of a process that began in 2015 with the municipality of Vila Nova de Famalicão joining the regional “Romarias do Minho” project.

The full programme for the Antoninas de Famalicão 2025 can be found at here.