A Bristol wine importer is to host a traditional Portuguese festival to celebrate 40 years of twinning between the city and Porto.
Festa de São João on Sunday 23 June has been organised by Xisto Wines through its Port O’Bristol project, which imports artisan wines from Portugal’s Douro region by sailboat. 
The event was first held by Xisto Wines at Bristol’s historic Underfall Yard on the Harbourside in 2019 to mark the launch of the sustainable, fossil-fuel free trade connection between Bristol and Porto.
Xisto Wines founder and director Anton Mann decided to bring back the Festa São João do Porto in honour of the special ‘twin’ connection between the two cities reaching its 40th anniversary.
The Festa, known for bringing the entire community together, is this time being hosted on the quayside by The Pump House pub, at Hotwells, where Port O’Bristol’s Wine by Sailship Bar will be joined by The Pump House’s street food stall.
It will include a special on-the-day live painting by legendary Bristol graffiti artist Inkie and performances from Bristol’s band Total Clusterfunk alongside DJs John Stapleton and James Barnett, as well as a range of other entertainment.
Anton Mann said: “The Port O’Bristol project was started to reconnect with European port cities without using the standard industry, fossil-fuelled supply chain.
“And, chiefly, we wanted to use this to bring the best of Porto here to Bristol and return to them the best of Bristol.
“Our Festa de São João do Porto is a real celebration of this cultural and trading exchange, and in Porto they know how to throw a party!”
Philip Channack, one of the founding members of the Bristol-Oporto Association when the twin city relationship was set up, added: “It has been inspiring to see Xisto Wines sail the boats in from Porto through their special project Port O’Bristol, and it’s a great idea to bring this traditional celebration alive this anniversary year.
“Anything honouring 650-plus years of the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance, the oldest of its kind in the world, is fine by us!”
The Pump House chef proprietor Toby Gritten, said the pub was the perfect venue to celebrate the trading and cultural relationship between Bristol and Porto as it sat at the neck of the harbour, with its still fully operational swing bridge while also bathing in the silhouette of the Clifton Suspension Bridge.
“We have stocked the Port O’Bristol wines for some time and they are one of our most popular choices,” he added.
The festa, which takes place between noon and 11pm, will feature traditional sardine dishes grilled on The Pump House’s barbecue and other food along with Portuguese artisanal wines sailed from Porto using the power of the wind.
Pictured, above, at The Pump House. Back row: Si John from Total Clusterfunk, Anton Mann, founder and director Xisto Wines, Philip Channack from the Bristol-Oporto Association, Toby Gritten Chef Proprietor, The Pump House. Front row: Lela McTernan Mann, director Xisto Wines, Maria Luisa Cardoso Duarte and Kerry Stacey, manager at the Pump House. Image by Freia Turland
