Portuguese students have a tradition, which started in Coimbra (1919), of celebrating the end of the academic life by burning “queimar” the laces “fitas” representing the near finishing of their studies. As time went by the celebrations extended to all the students.
The biggest Queima das Fitas is held in Porto, having become a festivity of the whole city, it envolves as many as 350 000 students and a high number of locals. It starts Saturday night with a “serenata”, where Fado is sung with fervour and the students’ bags wave in the air making the attached colourful laces to flutter. The highlights of this week are on Sunday the blessing of the students’ bags, the parade on Tuesday, everyday in the evening at the Queimódromo there will be concerts and at the end of the week a bull fight for beginners (with cows 
) and a gala ball for finalists.
Take a look at the events for this week at the website of the Queima das Fitas 2008 .
