Community celebrates Portuguese culture at annual Festa

MALALANE – The annual Portuguese Festa was part of the local Catholic Church’s celebrations of the feast of Our Lady of Fatima, which was first held in 1930.

It commemorates the last day the Virgin Mary (also titled Our Lady of Fatima) appeared to three young shepherds at Fatima, Portugal on the 13th day of each month from May to October 1917.

READ: Festa gives locals a taste of Portugal

Sunday’s celebrations started with a mass and procession at 09:00 to observe the spiritual roots of the festival.

From early afternoon, friends and families relaxed at tables under the trees and nibbled on delicious Portuguese fare such as espetadas, chicken, prawn cakes, pasteis de nata and garlic bread. Several preferred to fill up their plates with delicious cakes and tarts.

While parents sipped on wine or the beer tent’s offerings, children had their faces painted, played with balloon animals, bounced on the jumping castle and coloured pictures.

The Rancho Folclórico da Casa Social da Madeira, a cultural dance group from Pretoria, was once again one of the event’s highlights.

They entertained the crowd with traditional Portuguese dances, dressed in their colourful traditional garb, during two performances. They were accompanied by a Portuguese band and singers, who presented the crowd with beautiful and cheerful folk songs.

At the end of their last number, they invited the crowd to join in the lively dance.

There was musical entertainment throughout the day, including a wonderful Portuguese singer from the cultural dance group, who performed Portuguese, English and Afrikaans hits from the last few decades.

Later that afternoon, several items such as premium alcohol, hampers and a painting was auctioned as part of the church’s fundraising efforts.

The fires burned brightly and the atmosphere remained jolly until late that evening.

View the photo gallery here.