Celebrated since 1958 and now an integral part of the Lisbon festival, the “brides of Saint Anthony” are based on the tradition of Saint Anthony as the patron saint of matchmakers and marriage. This event is a social project sponsored by the Lisbon City Council involving a mass wedding ceremony that takes place on the morning of the feast day of Saint Anthony. The event used to take place in the Church of Saint Anthony but had to be relocated to Lisbon Cathedral due to the sheer number of couples that participate. The tradition was suspended between 1973 and 1997 and will be relaunched this year as the Marriages of Saint Anthony, maintaining its character as a social initiative and symbolising a policy of regeneration of the local neighbourhoods, encouraging young people to stay and settle in the city of Lisbon.