VI Autumn Fair

The Autumn Fair of Figueiredo de Alva takes place in Ladreda, in the parish of Figueiredo de Alva, in the municipality of São Pedro do Sul, and is organised by ALUCA. It is a local community event, a village that, according to the 2021 census, had 721 inhabitants. The available sources provide no details about the origins of the fair or its connection to any religious devotion. For that reason, only the essentials that could be established with certainty are recorded here, leaving untold the older history of this celebration, which would require further research.

Spread across places with lyrical names — Fermontelos, the main village of Figueiredo de Alva, Ladreda, Ucha and Cigana —, this parish in the municipality of São Pedro do Sul holds the quietude of the mountain villages of the district of Viseu, where life is measured by the rhythm of the seasons. It is a land of people bound to the fields and livestock, who have managed to keep their school and the pride of their roots alive. Its heritage includes the Ermida do Paiva, a Romanesque monument from the 12th century, the Mother Church and the Chapel of Our Lady das Necessidades. At the table, it shares a home-rooted cuisine of sarrabulho, kid goat and authentic flavours such as Cabrito da Gralheira and Carne Arouquesa. It is in Ladreda that the celebration now takes place, in a spirit of togetherness and the joy of festivity.