“For us, the Festa dos Tabuleiros is, indeed, an immense intangible heritage of our community and, in truth, has a dimension that goes far beyond our territory, holding a national and even universal significance,” stated Hugo Cristóvão, the mayor of Tomar, today. The statement underscores the national and transnational character that the festivities celebrating the Holy Spirit inherently possess.
Originating from pagan traditions symbolizing harvest time, the Festa dos Tabuleiros took on a religious nature during the Middle Ages with Queen Santa Isabel. In the events held across the country, the tabuleiros—unique to Tomar—stand out in the traditional Festas do Espírito Santo.
“This connection to our secular tradition of the Order of Christ’s festival and the Portuguese discoveries is truly unique, carrying universal symbolism and values of fraternity, sharing, and what was once our nation’s destiny,” the official added.
Cristóvão highlighted that this array of symbolism is embedded in the Festa dos Tabuleiros, granting it a “dimension worthy of being consecrated as an Intangible Heritage of Humanity.”
In May 2023, the Festa dos Tabuleiros was listed on the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage, as announced in the Diário da República.
The scientific rationale for including the Festa dos Tabuleiros in the national cultural inventory was submitted in July 2019. It emphasized the festival’s antiquity and its uniqueness both nationally and globally, describing it as “a festival by the people, of the people, for the people.”
The bid included historical and ethnographic data, demonstrating the current dynamics of this social practice and the ways its traditions have evolved and been passed down through generations, according to André Camponês of the Instituto de História Contemporânea (IHC), who leads the scientific coordination of the bid.
During preparation, various pieces of information, testimonies, and documents were gathered regarding the Festa dos Tabuleiros. Proposals for safeguarding include “video and photographic records of professions on the brink of extinction, such as tinsmithing and basket weaving, to allow for future replication, as well as the establishment of an Interpretative Center for the Festa.”
Camponês noted that the earliest known documentation of the Festa dos Tabuleiros, then called the Festa in Honor of the Holy Spirit, dates back to 1844, with the oldest record of the Festa do Espírito Santo in Tomar being the Asseiceira Crown of 1544.
Due to its complexity, the festival occurs every four years. There has only been one instance where the community decided to delay the event by a year, coinciding with the Expo 98, during which it participated with a procession at the invitation of then-President Jorge Sampaio.
