Feature: Lisbon celebrates Feast of Saint Anthony with huge parades

For the 83rd year in a row, 20 parade groups in colorful, creative costumes from different neighborhoods marched down Lisbon's central avenue Friday night to celebrate the Feast of Saint Anthony.

The "popular parades" or "marchas populares," organized by the Lisbon town council in partnership with cultural entertainment company EGEAC, began at 9 pm local time, with people of all ages dancing and singing to the rhythm of popular songs.

The celebrations date back to the 17th century and commemorate the Feast of St. Anthony, luring thousands of people to the streets. Saint Anthony, also known as Anthony of Lisbon, was a Portuguese Catholic priest and friar.

"A Voz do Ope-ra-rio," a children's parade group, wore golden costumes decorated with colorful dots, red shoes and ribbons, and danced and sang to the rhythm of traditional popular music.

They carried fishing boats with basil plants and were led by a young boy waving a giant red flag.

Another parade group, "Marchas dos Mercados," wearing golden and green clothing, danced in couples. The women wore tutu-type dresses and the men wore aprons decorated with red roses.

A number of groups from Portuguese-speaking countries like East Timor were also invited to perform for the thousands of people watching from the stands.

As every year during this month, Lisbon's oldest neighborhoods are filled with the smell of sardines, tables are laid out on people's doorsteps and colorful garlands and lights decorate the winding streets.

The basil plants around the city during this time of the year were used by men in the past as love tokens with a poem inserted inside.

Other rituals include children asking for coins to give to Saint Anthony and single women praying to find a husband.

The festivities went on until the early hours of Saturday, with locals enjoying beer and sangria and dancing to traditional popular music.

This year, the Lisbon council wanted to bring back the tradition of "thrones" for Saint Anthony, so families were also challenged to make their own hand-made altars and display them on their doorsteps.

On Saturday, a national public holiday, a procession will take place to honor St. Anthony in the historic neighborhood of Alfama, where the saint was believed to have been born back in 1195. Endi