June festivals (part 2)
Let’s continue our look at some of the many June festivals that you can enjoy while on your holiday this year, and we’re starting today’s article with a quick and tasty trip to Portugal.
Feast of St. Anthony – Alfama, Lisbon, Portugal
St. Anthony is the patron saint of Lisbon, and his feast day is when the capital goes sardine crazy. The city’s oldest quarter, Alfama, fills with the smell of grilled sardines outside the little houses and restaurants which populate its winding streets and steep staircases.
The festival features a parade along the Avenida de Liberdade and balconies everywhere can be seen draped with colored lights, streamers and paper lanterns.
The feast day celebrations take place against the backdrop of fado music with fado bands usually playing alongside an image of the saint.
The festival isn’t only charming but it is also held in one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, there are many things to see and do in Lisbon, so you won’t regret your trip there if you schedule it so that it contains the days from 12th to 14th of June.
Sonar – Museum of Contemporary Art, Barcelona, Spain
In neighboring Spain, the Sonar festival bills itself as a platform for progressive music and multimedia arts. The festival started in 1993 as something very small but it now attracts around 80,000 electronica fans.
The festival starts on the Thursday in the third week of June and lasts for three days. During the day you can discover musical genres like ‘digital concentrism’ when checking out the showcases in the Museum. During the night, the more traditional cultural aspect is replaced by flailing arms because the activity shifts into live acts, DJs and VJs.
Both of these festivals are just a small part of the attractions that the host cities has to offer, keep some car rental services in mind while on your holiday in order to enjoy as much of these destinations as possible.
