Festa dos Tabuleiros

This festival is an ancient tradition and the most important celebrated in the city, attracting people from all over the world.

Although the festival originated in ancient Portuguese millenarian rituals dating to the 13th century, specifically the Culto do Império do Divino Espírito Santo (Cult of the Empire of the Holy Spirit) celebrated on the feast day of the Pentecost, and has gradually evolved since then, the form of the festival as currently celebrated was standardized in 1950.

In this context, "cult" refers to accepted religious practice, rather than the modern negative connotations of the word.

In some localities around the town of Tomar, as at Carregueiros, the complete ceremony of the ancient cult of the Empire of the Holy Spirit is still practiced, including the "Coronation of the Emperor", symbolizing the future Emperor of the Age of the Holy Spirit, and the Bodo (Feast).

According to the traditional doctrines of the cult, in this Third Age the world would be governed by the Empire of Holy Spirit under monastic or fraternal rule, in which the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, its intermediaries in the clergy, and organized churches would be unnecessary, and "infidels" would unite with Christians by their own free will.