For centuries, the oldest academic-popular festivities in Portugal have been organized by a group of students. They began as pagan, pre-Celtic celebrations, were appropriated by the church and made religious, gained a unique social importance, and became something truly ambiguous—a way for the community of Guimarães to express itself in a loud and boisterous manner. St. Nicholas serves as an excuse for social critique and satire carried out by the community.
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