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Children encouraged to smoke at Epiphany celebrations in Portugal

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(6 Jan 2018) There is wine and food, people dancing around a bonfire and children smoking.
The combination may seem odd, but during the Epiphany celebrations of the Portuguese village of Vale de Salgueiro - the so called "King's Feast" - parents encourage their children, some as young as 5, to smoke cigarettes.
Parents buy the packs of cigarettes for their children.
Locals say the practice is centuries-old, but nobody is sure what it symbolises nor why the children are incited to smoke.
The tradition is kept alive one generation to another.
Portuguese authorities don't intervene.
The two-day celebrations start Friday with the arrival of the bagpipers, musicians and the King leading the way from one house to another, wishing best wishes for the new year and bringing wine and lupin.
On the next day, the King wears his crown and returns to every single house to collect a contribution to help him finance this year's celebrations.
This is followed by a Mass in which the outgoing king choses the new one.
The village is in northeast Portugal, 450 kilometres (280 miles) from the capital Lisbon.


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