Easter in Portugal: Processions and Food

Easter (Páscoa) is a major holiday in Catholic Portugal, with solemn Holy Week processions, family feasts and special cakes and sweets. Here’s what to expect at Easter in Portugal, and where to experience it.

Quick answer: Easter Sunday 2027 is on 28 March. The most famous celebrations are the Holy Week processions in Braga, including the night-time Ecce Homo procession. Good Friday is a public holiday, so expect closures. Try folar (Easter bread) and sugared almonds. Spring weather makes it a lovely time to visit.

Why go at Easter

Holy Week (Semana Santa) is when Portugal’s religious traditions are most visible. Even if you are not religious, the candlelit processions, flower carpets and village rituals are moving to watch. Spring is also a lovely time to travel: the countryside is green, wildflowers are out in the Alentejo and the Algarve, and the summer heat is still months away.

Key dates for 2027

• Palm Sunday: 21 March.
• Holy Thursday: 25 March, the night of Braga’s Ecce Homo procession.
• Good Friday: 26 March, a national public holiday.
• Easter Sunday: 28 March. The clocks also go forward one hour in the early hours of this day, so don’t miss an early train or tour.
• Easter Monday: 29 March, a normal working day in most of Portugal, though some towns, including Castelo de Vide, make it their local holiday.
• School holidays: mainland schools break from 22 March to 2 April 2027, so expect Portuguese families on the move all fortnight.

Where to go

Braga

Portugal’s religious capital stages its biggest Holy Week celebrations, with candlelit processions, decorated streets and churches, and altars set up around the old town. The best-known event is the Ecce Homo procession on the night of Holy Thursday. It dates back to the 16th century and has hundreds of participants, led by the farricocos: hooded penitents in black tunics, tied with rope, who carry burning torches and shake wooden rattles. On Good Friday night there is the solemn procession of the burial of Christ, when the farricocos walk in silence with their torches unlit. The celebrations draw more than 100,000 visitors a year. Streets are packed, so arrive early for a good spot. See Braga and where to stay in Braga.

Fátima

Easter services draw pilgrims to the sanctuary, with masses and candlelit processions over Holy Week. It is busy but much calmer than the big pilgrimages in May and October. See Fátima.

Óbidos

The walled village has some of the oldest Holy Week ceremonies in the country. On Palm Sunday the procession of Senhor Jesus dos Passos, which goes back more than 400 years, winds through the lanes inside and outside the walls. On Good Friday a torchlit procession for the burial of Christ makes a striking sight against the white houses. See Óbidos.

Castelo de Vide

This hill town in the Alentejo is known for some of Portugal’s most unusual Easter traditions. On the morning of Holy Saturday, farmers bring their lambs to the main church to be blessed. At the Easter vigil, people ring cowbells (chocalhos) inside the church, and afterwards crowds follow the town band through the streets. See Castelo de Vide.

Sardoal

In this small town in central Portugal, locals cover the floors of its churches and chapels with carpets of flower petals and greenery from Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday. The tradition was already well established in the 19th century and was added to Portugal’s national inventory of intangible heritage in 2023.

The Algarve

Two towns near Faro have Easter Sunday traditions worth planning around. In Loulé, the image of the town’s patron saint, the Mãe Soberana, is carried down from its hilltop chapel in procession (the Festa Pequena). Two weeks later, on 11 April in 2027, it returns uphill in the bigger Festa Grande, when men carry the statue up the steep slope at a run. In São Brás de Alportel, the Festa das Tochas Floridas sees local men carry torches covered in flowers along streets lined with flower carpets. See Loulé.

Lisbon and Porto

Processions and services in the main churches, and a calmer city as many locals travel home. In the north, look out for the compasso pascal on Easter Sunday, when a small group carrying a cross visits homes to bless them, and families decorate their doorways with flowers.

Easter food

• Folar: Easter bread that changes from region to region. In Trás-os-Montes (Chaves and Valpaços), it is savoury and stuffed with ham, chouriço and other cured meats. The Algarve’s folar de Olhão is sweet, layered with sugar and cinnamon. Elsewhere it is often a sweet bread baked with whole eggs. Traditionally, godparents give folar to their godchildren.
• Amêndoas: sugared almonds, given as gifts and sold in every pastry shop in the weeks before Easter.
• Roast lamb or kid (cabrito): the traditional Easter Sunday meal, often roasted in a wood oven with potatoes.
• Pão-de-ló: a light sponge cake. Some regions make it soft and runny in the middle.

See Portuguese desserts.

Tips

• Good Friday: a national holiday, with many shops and some sights closed. Public transport runs a reduced service.
• Book ahead: Easter is a busy holiday for Portuguese and Spanish travellers, especially in the Algarve, and prices rise for the week.
• Processions: dress respectfully, keep quiet, and avoid flash photography during the solemn moments.
• Weather: spring is mild, but bring a layer for the evenings and an umbrella for showers. See Portugal in spring and Portugal in March.

FAQ

Is Easter Monday a public holiday in Portugal?

No. Good Friday and Easter Sunday are national holidays, but Easter Monday is a normal working day in most of the country. A handful of towns, such as Castelo de Vide, use it as their local holiday.

Are shops open in Portugal over Easter?

Many small shops close on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, but most supermarkets and shopping centres open, often with shorter hours. Some museums close on Easter Sunday, so check before you go.

Where is the best place to see Easter processions in Portugal?

Braga has the biggest and most famous Holy Week, especially the Ecce Homo procession on Holy Thursday night. For smaller, more local traditions, try Óbidos, Castelo de Vide or Loulé.

More: the Portugal festivals calendar, Portugal public holidays in 2027 and Carnival in Portugal.

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