Lens-Artists Challenge #407: Celebrations Around the World
This week Patti hosts our Lens-Artists Challenge with Celebrations Around the World. In her post, she writes: “Show us joyful, solemn, traditional, or avant-garde festivals, parades, feasts, holidays… to name a few.” Although Brazil is full of celebrations, I’m heading to Portugal this time, to a tradition I’d never heard of before we arrived — one that turned out to be full of vigor, color, and beer. Please visit Patti’s post for more inspiration and a beautiful gallery of celebrations from around the world.
When we were in Portugal for a month-long visit, we stumbled into a college tradition that was entirely unfamiliar to us. It’s called Queima das Fitas — Portuguese for “the burning of the ribbons.” It was the beginning of May, and we were in Porto. Everywhere we went, we saw students in cap and gown at all hours of the day and night, gathered in the squares and around the university buildings. At first, we assumed we’d stumbled onto an early graduation ceremony.
Queima das Fitas is a college event that celebrates the end of the academic year and the graduation of university students. From what I gathered by asking a few of the students we met, each field of study is represented by its own colored ribbon — red for Law, yellow for Medicine, purple for Pharmacy, dark blue for Humanities, and so on, eight colors in all. The ribbons themselves trace back to something wonderfully mundane: nineteenth-century students used colored ribbon to bind their course folders, and over time the ribbon itself became a badge of one’s field of study. Burning or keeping these ribbons at graduation symbolizes the end of student life and the transition into the professional world. The event isn’t reserved for the graduating class alone — alumni from classes long past join the parade too, though in a far more subdued fashion.
Quite unexpectedly, and entirely unplanned, we happened to be in Coimbra on the big day, with a full float parade celebrating the Queima das Fitas. The tradition traces back to the 1850s, when a group of law students marched from the university’s Porta Férrea gate down to the lower town and set their ribbons alight — a gesture other faculties soon copied, until it grew into the citywide celebration we saw. The University of Coimbra, Portugal’s oldest, is where it all began, and its version of the Queima das Fitas remains the largest and best known in the country, though we’d already seen students celebrating a version of it days earlier in Porto. We found ourselves right in the middle of the celebration.
By Sunday afternoon, the festivities were in high gear, and the students had had plenty to drink. We found ourselves working our way through large, boisterous crowds — I kept an eye on my camera, worried it might get sprayed with beer. We sensed just how quickly things could get out of hand when we tried to visit the old cathedral, Sé Velha: it had been closed to visitors for fear of damage to the historic building and its religious art. (The featured photo shows the closed cathedral doors.)
We counted a dozen or more elaborate floats rolling through the streets of Coimbra. The parade began near the university buildings and wound down to the main avenue, floats packed with students and no shortage of alcohol. Students wore caps and gowns or other black-and-white attire, some with paint smeared across their faces and clothes.
What struck me most about this celebration was how peaceful it was. Police were on hand to guide traffic and pedestrians, but we never witnessed anything unruly — just a city fully given over, for one afternoon, to its oldest tradition.
Last week’s Summer Daze challenge was so much fun. I hope you will join this challenge, too. Please don’t forget to use the “lens-artists” hashtag in your posts to help people find your wonderful challenge entries.
Next week, I return with a new challenge. It will go live at noon EST in the USA. Tune in to find out more about the challenge then. Please see this page for more information about the Lens-Artists Challenge and its history. If you don’t want to miss any future challenges, please consider subscribing to the team members’ websites. Here they are:
- Tina of Travels and Trifles.
- Patti of P.A. Moed.
- Ann-Christine of Leya.
- John of Journeys with Johnbo.
- Anne of Slow Shutter Speed.
- Sofia of Photographias.
- Egídio of Through Brazilian Eyes.
- Ritva of Ritva Sillanmäki Photography.
- Beth of Wandering Dawgs.
That is the story behind the shots. For more like this, enjoy these related stories: Cityscapes, Coimbra, Lens-Artists, Portugal. Until the next shoot, keep chasing the light and the wonders it reveals.
Source:
- Queima das Fitas — Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queima_das_Fitas
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Leya
Fantastic opportunity and well captured! Lucky you! Looks a lot of fun.❤️
Egidio Leitao
It was one of those unexpected things. We happened to be in Coimbra on that day. Thanks, Ann-Christine.
Sofia Alves
It’s considerably more subdued in Lisbon, at least it was, back in my days. I kept my ribbons, they are all signed or decorated by uni colleagues, friends and family, and they were blessed in a massive outdoor mass. They have a lot more fun in Coimbra and Porto, from what you have showed us!
Egidio Leitao
Even in Porto, it was not as vibrant as what we saw in Coimbra. Thanks for your take on the celebration. Thanks for writing.
shoestringdiary
What a colorful celebration. Brings me back to the lantern parades in my university decades back. Beautiful cathedral also. (Leo)
Egidio Leitao
Thanks for the note, Leo. College days always seem to have plenty of fun, even if we didn’t think so at that time.
restlessjo
Work hard, and play hard, Egidio! What a treat for you to be there at just the right time. I knew it was a big celebration in Coimbra, but have never been there to witness it. Many thanks for sharing xx
Egidio Leitao
That is the way it goes. Those students know how to finish their school years. Thanks for writing.
Steve Schwartzman
Like you, I hadn’t heard of this tradition. “Fita” is one of those Portuguese words that Spanish doesn’t share.
Egidio Leitao
AI says that the etymology of that word is uncertain. It makes one wonder how it came into entering Portuguese. Thanks for the comment. The Queima das Fitas tradition is not known in Brazil – at least while I was living there.
Steve Schwartzman
One hypothesis is that Portuguese fita came from Latin vitta, which meant ‘a band, especially a fillet or chaplet worn round the head; and, in religious language, a head-band, a sacrificial or sacerdotal fillet.’ (A fillet is a ribbon or narrow strip of material used especially as a headband.)
Egidio Leitao
That would make sense. Add to that the Germanic connection, too.
pattimoed
This is wonderful, Egidio! Now I know what I was witnessing last year with the students’ celebration. You’ve captured the fun and excitement beautifully.
Egidio Leitao
Porto also does that celebration, and it was the first city we noticed that. My apologies for exceeding the challenge number of photos. Thanks for your note.
pattimoed
🙂 🙂
Toonsarah
That looks like a lot of fun!
Egidio Leitao
It was a lot of fun, and we came out of it unharmed or sprayed with beer. 🙂 Thanks, Sarah.
photobyjohnbo
What an opportunity to join in a local celebration, Egidio. I can see by your photos, you took advantage of the color and the story of the celebration.
Egidio Leitao
Thanks, John. It was a great opportunity to follow along.
Steve Hyde
A new one for Nes. You’ve recorded it well both in your narrative and images. I’d be in my element there and I’m jealous 🙂
Egidio Leitao
Thank you, Steve. It was interesting to see how wasted some of those students were.
Vicki
I’ve never heard of anything remotely resembling this tradition so thanks for sharing, Egidio. If looks like a fun tradition and well worth celebrating.
Egidio Leitao
Vicki, it was all new to us, too. It looked like a fun event from what we saw. Thanks for the note.
Tina Schell
Terrific choice for the week Egidio – you DO get around 😊. Looks to be a really fun day and good for all of the participants to keep it peaceful! Loved your post as always.
Egidio Leitao
LOL Thanks, Tina. We were so lucky to stumble into that on the only day we visited Coimbra.