Entries may be submitted until 16 October via the email address cultura@cm-vilareal.pt. This initiative is part of a strategy to promote and publicise the Our Lady of Pena float, aiming to “raise awareness of and showcase this cultural heritage through photography and illustration.”

This float—one of the largest in the country, weighing around three tons—is carried by more than 100 people during the Our Lady of Pena festival in Mouçós (within the Vila Real municipality). It is the region’s largest religious pilgrimage, taking place on the second Sunday of September.

Traditional celebration

The tradition dates back to the 18th century, and the festival is organised annually by one of the 11 villages in the parish of Mouçós.

In a statement released today, the municipality explained that the contest is part of a project to promote and publicise this cultural event and is supported by the Norte 2030 program.

Open to both national and international artists, the initiative seeks to encourage artistic creation and contribute to the appreciation, promotion, and visibility of the Our Lady of Pena float as a key element of Vila Real's identity and cultural heritage.

Prizes in the photography category include €200 for second place and €600 for the winner, while in the illustration category, the second-place entry will receive €700 and the first-place entry €1,500.

Cultural heritage

In November 2023, the Vila Real City Council submitted an application to the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage to promote and perpetuate the tradition.

The inclusion in the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage was announced in June.

The announcement, published in the Diário da República (Official Gazette), highlighted the relevance of the *Senhora da Pena* processional float to the identity of the communities involved; the historical importance of this event within its local context, as well as its social, cultural, and religious influence; and the dynamics of transmitting the practices and knowledge developed over generations among the communities, groups, and bearers of the associated know-how.

The description found in the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage database notes that “every year, the float takes about two months to prepare—a process that, in a way, visually reinvents it, as almost everything is recreated from scratch.”

“Hundreds of ornaments, over a thousand meters of fabric, and tens of kilograms of pins are used to cover the wooden structure in a painstaking process. Once finished, the float is striking for its shapes, textures, and colours, but above all for its immense height, which exceeds 23 meters. On the day of the procession—the second Sunday of September—the float weighs close to three tons,” the document further states.