After a two-year Covid break, the Portuguese town of Portimão is reviving its sardine festival, and expects to top the 2019 total of over 100,000 visitors to the five-day event.
In addition to five temporary restaurants along the riverside serving a sardine-based meal for €9.50 a plate, other local restaurants are featuring sardines all week. A concert series, handicrafts fair and market for local sweets and food products are also part of the festivities.
For Portimão, the idea of a sardine festival seems only natural; for decades sardine fishing was the mainstay of the local economy, with over 850 boats and 30 canneries.