Queima das Fitas: Coimbra's Student Festival of Song and Capes

The first time I heard the Serenata Monumental, I was sitting on the worn stone steps of the Sé Velha well before midnight, squeezed between locals and strangers who had all come for the same reason. When the students in their long black capes finally appeared and the first guitarra de Coimbra notes rang out, the whole square seemed to hold its breath. Fado de Coimbra is slower and more restrained than its Lisbon cousin, sung only by men in this tradition, and hearing it echo off centuries-old stone under a starry May sky is genuinely one of the most moving things I've experienced in Portugal.

Queima das Fitas is Coimbra's answer to graduation season, but calling it simply a graduation party undersells it. It traces its roots back to the nineteenth century, when students would burn the ribbons tied to their pastas, the leather folders they carried through university, as a rite of passage into the wider world. Each faculty has its own ribbon colour, red for law, yellow for medicine, blue for sciences, and during the festival week the city fills with these colours, worn proudly on capes, scarves and flags.

The Cortejo, a joyful and often chaotic parade through the historic streets, is where the festival shows its lighter side. Students ride decorated floats, throw sweets to the crowd, and poke fun at politicians and public figures with satirical costumes and banners. It's loud, funny and unmistakably Portuguese in its mix of reverence and irreverence, all set against the backdrop of the University of Coimbra, a UNESCO World Heritage site perched above the Mondego river.

While the ceremonies carry deep meaning, the evenings at the Queima park are pure celebration. A week of concerts brings together fado, pop and Portuguese rock acts on outdoor stages, drawing crowds of students and visitors long into the night. It's worth wandering up beforehand to the university's Joanina Library, with its gilded shelves and resident colony of bats that protect the ancient books from insects, a quieter counterpoint to the festival's energy just a short walk away.

If you can't make it in May, Coimbra rewards a visit in early July too, when the city honours Rainha Santa Isabel with a smaller but heartfelt festa, including a procession carrying her silver reliquary through the streets. Between the two celebrations, you get a real sense of how this university town balances centuries of tradition with the restless energy of the students who keep bringing it back to life every year.