Father's Day

Father's Day is celebrated in Portugal on March 19th due to the Catholic tradition of celebrating the day of Saint Joseph, father of Jesus. The celebration of this date varies from country to country. In addition to Portugal, countries such as Spain, Italy, Andorra, Bolivia, Honduras and Switzerland also celebrate on this day.

In many countries, the celebration takes place on the third Sunday of June. In others, for specific reasons, the date may vary.

In Russia, for example, it is celebrated on the same day as the defender of the fatherland, and in China on August 8, as the pronunciation of the date in Chinese, August 8, can be shortened to “bā bā” (八八 “eight eight").

This sounds similar to the informal word for papa (爸爸, baba).

There are two stories about the origin of Father's Day. In one of them, the origin of the date is attributed to the American Sonora Luise, daughter of a military man, who decided to create this day motivated by the admiration she felt for her father, William Jackson Smart.

The celebration became known in the United States and, in 1972, American President Richard Nixon made Father's Day official.

However, the other story was made through a son's homage to his father in Babylon. This event took place in 2000 BC, when a young boy by the name of Elmesu wrote a message on a clay tablet, in which he wished his father health, happiness and many years of life.

Tradition says that a gift is given to the father to honor him. Children usually offer symbolic gifts, with crafts, songs and poems made at school.