Romaria da Agonia: Viana do Castelo's Great Summer Festival

There is a particular smell that settles over Viana do Castelo in mid-August, a mix of grilled sardines, crushed carnations and gunpowder from the fireworks. That is the surest sign that the Romaria da Agonia has begun. This is one of the biggest religious and popular festivals in northern Portugal, honouring Nossa Senhora da Agonia, and for a few days the whole city seems to stop everything else to take part.

The image most people carry home is the Mordomia, a procession of women in the rich, embroidered costume of the Minho region, their necks and chests almost disappearing under layers of gold filigree jewellery. Some of these pieces are family heirlooms, brooches, hearts and crosses handed down from grandmothers, worn with visible pride as the women walk slowly through streets lined with onlookers. It is not a show put on for tourists, it is a community wearing its history.

The night before the big procession, teams of neighbours stay up preparing carpets of flower petals along entire stretches of road, working with a patience that is almost meditative. By dawn the patterns are finished, geometric or floral, in reds, yellows and purples, and they exist for only a few hours before the procession passes over them and the colours scatter across the cobblestones. Alongside the solemn side of the festival come the giants and big-headed figures, gigantones e cabeçudos, lumbering cheerfully through the crowds and delighting children with their exaggerated, painted faces.

On the Sunday, boats decorated with flowers and greenery carry the image of the saint out onto the Lima river and briefly to the sea, in a procession that draws thousands to the riverside and the bridge. It is a quieter, more contemplative moment compared to the noise of the fireworks that light up the sky over the water almost every night of the festival. Climbing above it all, the funicular from the city centre carries visitors up to the Santa Luzia sanctuary, where the basilica and the viewpoint give a sweeping view over the Lima estuary, the rooftops of Viana and the Atlantic beyond.

When the legs get tired from all the walking and watching, Minho cooking is close at hand and generous as always. Look for grilled sardines and other fresh fish from the coast, hearty rojões with cornbread, and the local caldo verde, all washed down with a crisp glass of vinho verde from the surrounding vineyards. Between processions, meals and fireworks, the Romaria da Agonia is best experienced slowly, letting the days blur into one long celebration.