It is not yet this year that the popular marches will return to parade in Quarteira. The «successive confinements» meant that there were no conditions «to prepare the parade with the necessary rigor», justify the Câmara de Loulé and the Parish Council. Even so, Quarteira will still have arraiais to celebrate the Popular Saints.
On the 10th and 11th, the party takes place at Rua da Cabine, on the 12th, 23rd and 28th, at Rua da Alegria, and on the 17th and 18th, at Rua Vasco da Gama.
«Dances with popular artists, spaces decorated with the traditional colorful garland and basil and, of course, gastronomy, especially typical dishes such as grilled sardines and green broth, will be the main ingredients of these nights», says the Câmara de Loulé.
Between the 10th and 30th of June, the windows of the local commerce on Rua Vasco da Gama and Rua Bartolomeu Dias receive an exhibition with the facts of the marchers who, over the years, have made the history of this event. This initiative, which is a way of showing the public the wealth of the estate that incorporates the popular culture of Quarteira, has the support of APROMAR and the local commerce that, at this time of year, gains a new glow thanks to the many tourists that flock to the city to watch this ethnographic picture.
The parades of the Popular Marches from previous years will be shown in cinematographic format, at Largo do Centro Autárquico, on the 12th, 23rd and 28th, from 10:0 am to 21:00 pm.
In the same place, on the 13th, 24th and 29th of June, from 9:30 am to 18:30 pm, the traditional basil will be on sale.
Vítor Aleixo, mayor of Loulé, and Telmo Pinto, president of the Parish Council of Quarteira, guarantee that, from the first moment, “they showed their openness to the parade of marches”.
«However, due to the restrictions and successive confinements imposed within the scope of the Covid-19 pandemic, the different groups of Marchas de Quarteira considered that, given the short time that separated the lack of definition from the celebration of the Santos Populares parties, there was no conditions to prepare the parade with the necessary rigor to carry it out with the quality and beauty characteristic of these marches», they say.
“So, due to the fear felt by the groups, we prefer to postpone the recovery until next year. But, despite everything, we will not miss these dates and we will, with this program, revive the tradition», they conclude.
Over the years, Santos Populares de Quarteira have become one of the main tourist attractions in the city of Quarteira, the municipality of Loulé and the Algarve region, attracting many tourists.
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