The 2023 "Latada" parade brought colour, joy and tradition to the city to the sound of rattling cans

^{English version by Diana Taborda}

Thousands of University of Coimbra students filled the city under a warm October sun. It’s Sunday and it’s the Freshers’ Week parade! The celebration week lasted from the 2nd to the 8th of October.

Well, we don't call it Freshers' Week. It's Festa das Latas. Or Latada. A unique name given to a long-standing tradition in Portugal's oldest university, and one of the oldest in Europe. "Lata" is the Portuguese word for "can", so why is this student festival called "Latada" or "Festa das Latas"? There's a simple answer: it literally translates as "Cans Festivity" or "Cans Party"! The Latada Parade celebrates the new students of the University of Coimbra, and on this special day, all the freshmen dress up in creative ways, wearing the colours of the faculty in which they are enrolled and cans tied around their ankles. Now imagine the noise of thousands of young people walking through the streets of Coimbra to the sound of rattling cans. And... holding a chamber pot.

However, it’s definitely not only about the new students.

The last day of the “Festa das Latas” 2023 started at the School's Patio with the Insignia Imposition Ceremony. For the students about to graduate, it was time to pin the "grelo" (a thin ribbon matching the colour of their school) on their academic case ("Pasta académica"). Maria Marques, a student at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Coimbra (UC) tells us "It means that one of the most important chapters of my life is coming to an end, our senior year has officially begun,".

This first insignia "is the tiny seed that will grow into the Queima das Fitas", explains the Dux Veteranorum of the UC, Matias Correia. In May, the tip of the "grelo" will be burned and the ribbons will be revealed, "a symbol of academic merit". But we'll talk about Queima das Fitas another time. During the Latada Parade, in addition to the new insignia, the students also carry a turnip with them, a tradition that dates back to 1903. In March of that year, women vendors protested against taxes in what became known as the "Turnip (Grelo) Rebellion". The students joined the protest and, since then, "every year they buy turnips from the women in Dom Pedro V market to show their loyalty to the cause," says Matias Correia.

Alfredo Dias, UC Vice-Rector for Heritage, Facilities and Tourism, officially opened the Insignia Imposition Ceremony from the steps of Via Latina before hundreds of students.

Hundreds of students were already gathered outside the Porta Férrea (Iron Gate) for the start of the Latada parade.

Political satire and slogans are typical of student parades in Coimbra, and this one was no different, from students with "houses on their backs" to those with signs alluding to the price of housing in Portugal.

“In the moonlight of this city, you make memories for eternity”, we read as we enter Praça da Canção for the last night of the event. See you all in May at Queima das Fitas…