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All the way to Portugal to attend one of the best medieval festivals in Europe
Since we discovered medieval festivals we have developed a particular liking to visiting places where we knew a medieval fair or festival was going on. Up to now, these were all nearby in Tuscany but at the end of July we all of a sudden found ourselves in Portugal, in Óbidos to be more precise, at one of the most beautiful medieval fairs in Europe – how did we end up here?
It is all started a year ago at the Volterra medieval festival when we started talking to the members of La Giostra after their show. They began to tell us about their summer tour in Portugal, how beautiful the country was, how everything was very affordable and, above all, about the special care and attention they paid to the recreation of a medieval festival and about the Óbidos fair in particular. They made us really want to see it for ourselves.
Once we learned that this summer La Giostra would be once again returning to Óbidos, and so would the Barbarian Pipe Band [www.barbarianpipeband.com], the decision to go was fairly easy to take. These are the two musical groups we like the best from the ones we’ve seen at the fairs we’ve gone so far and we really wanted to see what this fair looked like.
With each fair we’ve attended we’d also gotten the idea of joining in on the fun of dressing up in medieval costumes. Once we saw on the official Óbidos website that they encouraged people to dress up (you got in free if you did!), we figured we just had to do the same. On another area of the site we’ll talk about how Lourdes went about this. The time and energies spent on last minute sewing was worth it since the costumes really allowed us to enter into the spirit of the festival 
Óbidos, here we come!
We arrive into Óbidos on a Sunday on a bus from Lisbon, a little over an hour bus ride. From afar you can already tell that the medieval city is completely surrounded by large crenelated walls and presided over by a castle. We enter through the ancient, splendidly decorated door around 6 p.m., just in time for the fair.
We follow the main street that crosses the village to reach the Castle. It is our first time in Portugal, and we’ve never seen a village with buildings this particular – painted in white with blue and yellow borders along the edges that decorate the houses. All along the streets we see a wide variety of beautiful flowers providing color and adding to the charm of the village.
All signs of modern life have cleverly hidden and soon we walk amongst people dressed in medieval costume and through wooden stalls offering all types of treats. The entire perimeter of the walls that surround the village can be done on foot (no cost) to enjoy a walk with a view of the village and castle and which we will definitely do on the following day.
We stayed in Óbidos for two days at the Casas de S. Thiago al Castelo bed and breakfast ( http://www.casas-sthiago.com/ ). The b&b is small but very charming and in a great location: right in front of the castle where the fair is located. So we check in and don our new medieval clothes, ready for the jump into the Middles Ages at Óbidos!
The medieval fair within the Castle
Entrance into the festival costs 6 euros (which is less that we usually pay but cost of life in Portugal seems to be less than in Italy). Anyone dressed in medieval costumes actually gets to get in for free
Right away you can exchange your euros into the local medieval coin and to enjoy trading in past currency. It is for fun, since no one would actually refuse your present-day coins.
The castle of Óbidos is magnificent, straight out of a fairy-tale. A great monumental facade, with square and cylindrical towers, a large wooden door and the same walls from the city continue along this corner of the village, all in perfect condition. The area around the castle is set up wonderfully, with a medieval campground right below the castle and wooden stalls selling everything from baskets and medieval head gear to all different types of food. It is hard to believe all of this normally is not here, everything has been built especially for the fair.
The space for the festival is wide, and it is possible to move around without problems despite the great number of visitors. There are areas set up for performances by the wandering entertainers, small open areas as well as an actual stage with steps that serve as a sitting area and a great area for the joust on horseback. There are many areas to visit and you never get the impression of an “empty” space in the fair between one place and the next.
When we arrived we could already hear drums from outside the castle so once we entered the castle grounds we head straight toward the music. A group joyfully beats on drums and plays the bagpipes and girls in medieval clothes dance around. We unfortunately don’t catch the name of the group, as well as that of other artists performing throughout the evening: there were many groups and even if we didn’t get a chance to calmly listen to all of them, we heard great music throughout the evening.
The open space favors those groups with percussion instruments that can be heard from afar, such as the Italian group Barbarian Pipe Band who transmit a lot of energy. La Giostra was also very successful with their music, their music with medieval and Mediterranean tones was the one that most got everyone dancing, including us! They also spoke enough Portuguese to make us jealous, as we didn’t get much further than the “obrigado”.
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Luckily, we met lots of kind and welcoming people which made communicating easier. As always, it is always the people that you meet the most important ingredient when traveling as well as making the festive air of the market much more entertaining and fun. In there were so many people having fun, from the general public to the artists that it was impossible to not be sucked into the atmosphere. We were impressed by the mysterious nymph with arms that became tree branches and by the very credible “leper” walking along the streets (which we were told was actually a professor that loves and excels in this personification).
We had the good fortune to meet some really special people that made us welcome and feel as if we were part of the festival. People such as Oscar and Fatima, at whose “Taverna Cavaleiros” we ate a wonderful dinner in medieval style and then proceeded to make us feel as long-lost friends even if we had just met. We’re still enjoying the last bottle of “vino tinto” or tinted wine that they make themselves and which they gave us as a gift
There were many places to eat and offered a wide selection of choices: the market organization make sure that the various stands all offer as many different options of medieval dishes as possible so that you find the same at each stand. In order to spare us some embarrassment we won’t list all of the things we tasted but we can assert that we really enjoyed the grilled meat as well as the legendary “chorizo”, the meatballs and corn bread and sweet budin de Pao. Everything was watered by excellent sangria
The medieval market was without a doubt the largest and most complete we have seen yet: so many stands with a wide offerings of accessories in leather and cloth in medieval style, often sold by the same artisans that hand made them. I took advantage and ordered a pair of custom sized shoes. The cost of these were about half of what we’d pay back in Italy so it was an excellent occasion to shop, for both medieval items or more modern fare.
Among the best attractions of the fair was the tournament and battle among the knights that took place in an area on the far side of the castle just outside the castle entrance. Here the group Os Cavaleiros do Tempo (http://www.oscavaleirosdotempo.eu/) put on a spectacular show, with knights on horseback participating in a tournament to sword combat on foot. What made the show so good was the great theatrical skill of the group that sucked the audience in, making one feel truly back in time.
Olivier the knight, also the leader of the group, is a great character. On horseback he was the tough guy with a mean streak but we still cheered him on! We met him after the show and he really is very kind and laid back: he gave us excellent recommendations on where to eat in the town too.
So much to see, so little time!
By pure coincidence we had the chance to talk to Francisco Salvador, the city’s administrative official in charge of tourism and organization of events. In practice, he’s the one that had the idea to start the medieval market 8 years ago. It was very interesting to hear him describe both the spirit behind the festival as well as the care taken to set up every detail, with the goal of also highlighting the medieval town of Obidos and giving tourists an incentive to stay within the city longer. As far as we’re concerned, it worked very well!
Two days at Obidos flew by and as is always the case at large festivals, we weren’t able to see all of the attractions. Fine as we’re concerned, since it is a good excuse for us to come back even if Obidos isn’t a hop away from home.
Without a doubt, the medieval festival at Obidos merits the trip to get there, on the weekend in particular when the festival is at its peak. For the moment, it is the biggest and most beautiful festival we’ve attended to date and we highly recommend going!
View all of the photos from the Obidos Medieval Market »!
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This post is also available in: Italian
