Tomar's Trays Festival: bread carried on the head

Picture the street first: white façades, paper flowers hung everywhere, and in the middle of the procession a young woman walking very straight, a tray balanced on her head. We are in Tomar, in central Portugal, on the day of the Festa dos Tabuleiros, the festival of the trays. This is not a show for tourists. It is a matter for the whole town.

A festival that returns every four years

The Festa dos Tabuleiros takes place every four years, in early July. For several days the centre is covered in paper flowers. The residents make them: thousands of people, but also schools, associations, care homes and the hospital. The whole municipality takes part, and that is what strikes you most when you look at photographs of the streets.

The tray is a tall structure, decorated with loaves of bread and paper flowers, that the young women carry on their heads. At the top sits a crown with a dove or a cross: the dove stands for the Holy Spirit. The girls walk in white, and the procession of the trays remains the high point of the festival.

What strikes you in Tomar is the place of bread. It is not in the background of a procession: it is the subject of it. Carrying such a load on your head takes real composure, and the festival tells this simply. For us, who make cakes, it is a useful reminder: sugar is not the only thing that holds a celebration together. Flour, water and an oven have carried great feasts for much longer than any shop window.

The next edition is announced for 3 to 12 July 2027. Residents were also called to vote on 18 April 2026 on whether the festival should be held in 2027.

Roots in the harvest, then a queen

According to the daily newspaper Observador, the festival has pagan roots linked to the harvest season. In the Middle Ages it took on a religious character, under the influence of Queen Saint Isabel. The sources give no precise date for these origins, and it is better to say so than to invent one.

This mix of harvest and faith is not surprising in Portugal. In the villages, the calendar follows the fields, the grape harvest and the great festive tables. Sweets and breads have often marked those moments, and the recipes have been handed down from one generation to the next.

Blessed bread for those who need it most

Bread lies at the heart of the festival. Blessed by the priest, it forms part of the "pêza", a gift that also includes meat and wine and is distributed to the poorest. So the bread is not only decoration: it is meant to feed those who need it.

The oxen, a tradition that stopped

Once, oxen also paraded before being slaughtered for the community. The slaughter was abandoned in 1966. Since then the meat has gone only to poor families in the town. The oxen are still decorated today, with necklaces and earrings made of flowers.

And Wooly in all this?

There is no tray in our shop windows, but there is a story from Tomar that comes across our counter: our fatias de Tomar have their own article, and its title says it: this is a doce that asks for a pan with a chimney. If this story has made you want something sweet, you can order our pastéis de nata online or collect them in one of our shops.

Our Portuguese pastry makers work in Brussels, in four shops: Etterbeek, Stockel, Uccle and Waterloo. Addresses and opening hours are on the stores page.

Sources: Observador, "População de Tomar decide no dia 18 se quer Festa dos Tabuleiros em 2027" ; Center of Portugal, "Trays Feast in Tomar".

Photo: Jaimrsilva, Wikimedia Commons, licence CC BY-SA 4.0.