Sardines. This year’s five winners

The popular saints arrived and with them there is another edition of the Sardinhas contest – a delicacy that appears with hand with this time. This year, the initiative of the EGEAC integrated at the Lisbon parties broke records: 6,013 proposals sent by more than three thousand participants, representing 75 countries, 3,582 Portuguese and 2,431 foreign proposals.
The goal remains the same as the previous editions: find the most original sardines, resulting in five winners. This year’s motto was ‘Do, Refaz and Send’ and many chose to recreate some cultural points of the country. «The five winning sardines of the 15th edition of the contest came from Lisbon, São Domingos de Rana, Porto and, beyond borders, from São Paulo, in Brazil,” explains EGEAC.

But what do the winners say? Sónia Correia de Sousa responsible for the ‘sardine soap’ nods with ‘sardine soap, the smell of the party for boy and to girl!’, While mirja siim ‘sardines’ so many houses, but nowhere to live’ points to the housing crisis that affects Lisbon. «A man with a suitcase is among many houses, but none is yours. They are too expensive or rented for tourists. This illustration reflects the silent struggle of finding a home in a city that no longer looks like yours.
Already Sofia Junqueira author of ‘Between Rain Pingos’ states that’ this sardine emerges as a result of the rainy days of early 2025, where, being unable to leave home, it was possible to give wings to creativity. Hoping the rain to move away during the popular saints, it is thus a way to remember these gray months.

For its part, Vasco Figueiredo with the ‘slope’ alludes to the Portuguese sidewalk that is so typical of the city. «I wanted to work an essential part of the city of Lisbon, to transmit the value of ‘tradition’. I drew this sardine as if it were still being built by its own calendar. The game with the negative space, ironically, alludes to a crack given in the fish that is now rebuilt. As I was filling the pavement, I also gave myself to be a calcateiro, which left a sense of proximity not only with creation, but with the tours where every day I step.

Finally, a redhead author of ‘Embroidered Sardine: The tradition at each point’ bet on national embroidery, such a culture. «A sardine that honors the art of traditional Portuguese embroidery, bringing out the delicacy and richness of the floral and geometric motives that represent the cultural essence of regions such as Viana do Castelo and Madeira. With vibrant colors and subtle shapes, this creation celebrates the handcrafted heritage of Portugal, translating its beauty into a simple symbol, but full of meaning and history ».

How it all started
The first sardine associated with the Lisbon parties appears in 2003, designed by Atelier SilvaDesigners, in a challenge launched by EGEAC. In 2009, the studio invites illustrators and plastic artists to draw sardines: André Carrilho, Bela Silva, Henrique Cayatte, João May Pinto, Nuno Saraiva and Pedro Proença reveal their personal view of Sardinha.
And even winning your space it didn’t take much. «Consolidated as a Heritage brand of Lisbon, Sardinha flooded the city to advertise the multiple initiatives of the parties such as other scenes and routes & rituals, or the theater and the music, trains and feast of walking,” he even told Luz to EGEAC.

In 2010 the creative multiplication of the brand continues with a new generation of editorial illustrators: André da Loba, Bernardo Carvalho, João Fazenda, Jose Fear, Madalena Matoso, Tiago Albuquerque and Yara Kono. They appear to the thousands, in lanes to put in the typical alfacinhas balconies, and distributed in street actions, the so -called ‘guerrilla sardines’.
The following year, EGEAC launches the creativity contest ‘Sardinha Festas de Lisboa’, challenging anyone to create the sardines of the popular festivities. With the motto ‘The sardine is mine!’ received thousands of proposals from around the world. «Thus began the democratization of the creation of sardines, which, year after year, insists on exceeding all expectations. In just five years, more than 25,000 sardines, digital and three -dimensional, of consecrated and virtuous amateur authors, with political, historical themes, simply graphic or abstract, Lisbon and the world, sardines and their authors show the richness and diversity of the imaginary, each and each. A legion of fans and the ritual of creating, collecting and seeing sardines created the strength and exponential growth of this brand, which goes far beyond any strategy, turning the sardines into the Love Brand of Lisbon.

But it is in 2014-year of the official launch of the Sardinha brand-that the promoter entity has challenged several brands and several companies to develop their own products and associate with this phenomenon. Since then, it doesn’t stop. And the numbers speak for themselves.