[2] The first known literary reference to the Nicolinas dates from 1664, the year after the construction[3] of the Chapel of St. Nicholas in Guimarães,[4] although historical evidence suggests that the festivities predate this time.

[5] The Nicolinas consist of eight main festivities, the Pinheiro, the Novenas, the Danças de São Nicolau, the Posses e Magusto, the Pregão, the Maçãzinhas, the Baile da Saudade and the Roubalheiras.

[10] However, it appears to predate this period, and historians place the beginning of the Nicolinas around the 14th and 15th centuries, when the European cult of Saint Nicholas arrived in the city.

[11] Led by Jerónimo Sampaio and Bráulio Caldas, a group of enthusiasts and students organized a gathering at the Afonso Henriques Theatre on 21 November 1895, which sparked the return of the Nicolinas after an absence of around 20 years.

[15][16] They take place every year from November 29 to December 7 and include various events, from the Pinheiro, the most popular, to the Baile da Saudade, the last of the festivities.

[27] Traditionally, the pine was raised at the Toural, but this practice changed in the late 1700s as urban expansion began to encroach on the area.

As a result, the location for raising and burying the pine was some times before finally settling at its current site, near the Santos Passos Church.

[28] Teens and young adults often get drunk at the start of the procession,[29] an act that older Nicolinos deem as “a distortion of the tradition, fueled by convinience”.

[44] Despite the negative perception in the rest of the country of the large gathering of people during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Social Democratic Party defended the festivities, with their vice-president at the time, André Coelho Lima, native to the city, personally attending the various events.

[45] João de Meira said in 1905 that no obstacle would stop the festivities from happening as long as the students of the city fought for it, an analogy to what happened during the pandemic: As long as there is a single student in Guimarães,With the strength to play, with soul, with a drum,The Festival will live on, proud and triumphant,And no-one will be able to accompany it to the grave!The Novenas are a series of nine masses celebrated every morning between 29 November and 7 December,[47] next to the 18th century Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Conceição.

[49] They were established as a cultural habit in the 18th century due to the obligation to “hold sung masses every year, on the 7th and 8th of December, by the young choreographers of the Collegiate Church of Nossa Senhora da Oliveira [pt]” dedicated to the patron saint Our Lady of the Conception.

[52] The Posses start at the Campo da Feira, from where the committee walk through the streets and alleys of the historic center, following a route that passes the houses where there is an agreed “stop”.

[56] Through the Pregão and the voice of the Pregoeiro, member of the Nicolinas Festivities Committee, the students of Guimarães condense their opinions and their critical view of the events that have taken place over the year into a single document.

[65] Many historical and mythical figures are represented in the dances, such as Afonso Henriques, Mumadona Dias, Saint Nicholas, Minerva or Gil Vicente.

Initially, the primary objective of this event was to raise funds, serving as a vital way to financially support the costly nature of the festivities.

[50] The most controversial tradition within the Nicolinas is that of the Roubalheiras, involving the theft of various items, ranging from small flower pots to hefty 500 kg cows.

It takes place on a random night between 29 November and 7 December, the span of the festivities, and the day remains a mystery for everyone apart from the students of the Committee and local authorities.

[66] In this traditional practice, observed on June 29 on the so-called Dia dos Atrancamentos,[73] village boys would playfully relocate items such as food, harvest tools, and carts, placing them in entirely different locations to confuse the elders.

[73][69] A resurgence occurred in 1994,[73] accompanied by strategic modifications aimed at deterring any misuse of the festival as a pretext for engaging in illegal activities, an influential factor contributing to its prior abolitions.

Subsequently, the Roubalheiras deliberately envelop themselves in secrecy, maintaining the confidentiality of their occurrence date, which changes annually and remains exclusively known to the members of the committee, devoid of a fixed schedule.

Among them were a goalpost and a football bench taken from the Afonso Henriques Stadium, numerous scooters and bicycles, supermarket trolleys, and a considerable number of gas heaters.

[79] These sessions provide an opportunity for individuals intending to participate in the festivities to tune their drums and practice the various Toques Nicolinos, mainly the one made specifically for the Moinas.

[89] Discussions regarding the creation of a monument in honor of the Nicolinos and the festivities date back to 1993, with the assurance of construction granted in 1999 by the City Council, however, the project faced cancellation in 2002.

[90] Initially planned for inauguration on November 29,[91] coinciding with the start of the Nicolinas of 2007, the event experienced delays due to construction challenges.

[90][92] It was created by the renowned plastic artist José de Guimarães,[93] and it serves as a symbolic representation of the fluttering of the “cape”, an integral element of the old academic attires, now used solely by the students of the Festivities Committee.

[94] The symbol of the Nicolinas depicts a Nicolino, the name given to the people that actively engage in the festivities, dressed in the iconic “Traje de Trabalho”,[95] proudly raising his drumstick high in the air.

Adorned with sayings, symbols, and messages, these ribbons offer the boys subtle "clues" guiding them to choose the right girl to present the spear.

However, if the boy is participating in the Maçãzinhas for the first time, tradition dictates that they use of a white ribbon, a color exclusively reserved to honor their mothers.

This exhibit included a collection of photographs by José Bastos capturing moments from the Nicolinas of 2000, alongside an oil painting by Paulo Varregoso Mesquita.