Festa dos Tabuleiros 2027: Tomar's Tray Festival Guide

Once every four years, the Templar town of Tomar fills with bread, paper flowers and music for the Festa dos Tabuleiros, one of the oldest and biggest festivals in Portugal. Hundreds of young women parade through the streets with trays of bread as tall as themselves on their heads.

Quick answer: the festival runs from 3 to 12 July 2027, with the main Cortejo dos Tabuleiros on Sunday 11 July. Watching is free. Book a room early or stay nearby, take the train from Lisbon (about 2 hours) and reach the route hours ahead.

What is the Festa dos Tabuleiros?

The festival honours the Holy Spirit. Tomar’s town hall traces it to the cult of the Holy Spirit set up in the 14th century, and tradition links its religious side to Queen Saint Isabel, wife of King Dinis. Its roots are older, in harvest festivals, hence all the bread and wheat. It happens only every four years because all 11 parishes of the municipality take months to prepare. The last edition was in 2023.

Before each edition, the people of Tomar vote at a public meeting on whether to hold it and choose the mordomo, the steward who leads the preparations. In April 2026 they voted yes and acclaimed Mário Formiga, mordomo in 2023, once again. Tomar has also applied for UNESCO intangible heritage status.

The tabuleiro

By tradition, the tabuleiro (tray) should be as tall as the girl who carries it. It rises from a wicker basket wrapped in an embroidered cloth and holds 30 loaves of about 400g each, threaded on five or six canes and decorated with paper flowers, greenery and ears of wheat. On top sits a crown with the white dove of the Holy Spirit or the Cross of the Order of Christ. Local press put the finished tray at around 15kg.

The bearers wear long white dresses with a coloured ribbon across the chest, and each walks with a male partner who helps steady the tray. More than 600 tabuleiros took part in the main procession in 2023.

2027 dates and programme

The council has announced the main dates. Start times and the full programme had not been published by October 2026, so check before you plan your day.

• Sunday 28 March 2027 (Easter Sunday): the Procession of the Crowns and Banners of the Holy Spirit opens the festival year.
• Sunday 4 July: the Cortejo dos Rapazes, the children’s procession (more than 1,500 children took part in 2023).
• Wednesday 7 July: the ruas populares open, with the streets of the historic centre closed to traffic and decorated with millions of handmade paper flowers. A weekday morning is quieter for photos.
• Friday 9 July: the Cortejo do Mordomo, a parade with oxen and carts symbolising the arrival in town of the oxen for the traditional sacrifice.
• Saturday 10 July: the Cortejos Parciais, when hundreds of tabuleiros arrive from the parishes in their own processions, plus an exhibition of tabuleiros and traditional games such as tug-of-war and climbing a greased pole.
• Sunday 11 July: the Procession of the Crowns and Banners and the main Cortejo dos Tabuleiros.
• Monday 12 July: the Pêza, when bread, meat and wine blessed the day before are handed out to people in need.

As a guide, in 2023 the streets opened at 8pm, the Cortejo do Mordomo at 6pm, the parish processions and the Pêza at 10am, and the main procession at 4pm.

The main procession: route and where to watch

The Cortejo dos Tabuleiros covers about 5km of Tomar’s streets. In 2023 it set off from the Mata dos Sete Montes park below the convent, passed through Praça da República for the blessing and finished at Várzea Grande. The high point is when the bearers lift their trays high together, just before 6pm in 2023. The park was damaged by Storm Kristin in January 2026 and is reopening in stages, and the 2027 route is not yet confirmed.

• Praça da República: the most dramatic spot and the most packed. Expect to wait hours for a place at the front.
• Elsewhere on the route: more space, and the whole procession still passes.
• Heat: July afternoons inland are often very hot. Bring water, a hat and sun cream.
• Crowds: organisers expected about 1.5 million visits across the ten days in 2023, with hundreds of thousands on the main Sunday. Agree a meeting point and watch your bag.

Where to stay

Tomar is small and rooms for the main weekend go quickly. If it is full, try these:

• Fátima: about 35 minutes by car, with plenty of hotels. It has no train station in town, so you need a car or bus. See Fátima.
• Santarém: on the railway line between Lisbon and Tomar. See Santarém.
• Lisbon or Coimbra: come for the day by train. From Coimbra you usually need to change trains.

Book ahead: rooms in Tomar are limited on festival weekends. See places to stay in Tomar.

Getting there

• Train: CP regional trains run direct from Lisbon Santa Apolónia and Oriente in about 2 hours. The station is about 10 minutes’ walk from the centre. Expect busy trains on the main Sunday. See day trips from Lisbon by train.
• Bus: Rede Expressos coaches run from Lisbon Sete Rios.
• Car: about 1h30 from Lisbon on the A1 (tolled) and the A23 (toll-free). In 2023 the town set up 19 car parks with shuttle buses, and the paid car parks sold out in advance.

Make a trip of it

Stay an extra day for the Convent of Christ, the UNESCO-listed Templar castle-convent above the town. Entry is €15, and in summer it usually opens from 9am to 6.30pm. Allow two to three hours. See our Tomar guide.

With a car, add Almourol Castle on its island in the Tagus, about 20 to 30 minutes away. For more ideas, see the best day trips from Lisbon and Portugal in July.

FAQ

When is the next Festa dos Tabuleiros?

From 3 to 12 July 2027. The main procession is on Sunday 11 July 2027.

How often is the Festa dos Tabuleiros held?

Every four years. The last edition was in 2023.

Is the Festa dos Tabuleiros free?

Yes. Watching the processions and walking the decorated streets is free.

Can you visit the Festa dos Tabuleiros as a day trip from Lisbon?

Yes. Direct trains take about 2 hours, so you can arrive in the morning and return in the evening. Check the last train back.

More: Portugal’s festival calendar and what to see in Tomar.

See also: Almourol Castle, a Fátima day trip and Santarém.

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