Age: 20
Date of Performance: 4/24/2025
Language: English
Nationality: Portuguese
Occupation: Student
Primary Language: English
Residence: United States
- Text
The informant is a college student. She referenced a festival honoring the Saint of Lisbon in Portugal, where she grew up. Her family used to celebrate the festival with little parties and elaborate decorations to honor their Portuguese nationality.
2. Context
“You celebrate with little parties and you decorate with a specific flower called manjericão. And you dress traditionally and do a Portuguese dance with flower arches.”
“I’ve been doing it since I gained consciousness. I liked it when we did it at school. They would make us learn the dance with a boy and you got to do it with him for all the parents.”
“I would be like ‘ooooo who’s my partner going to be this year.’ But in the street you have to be part of like a neighborhood group to be in the real parade.”
“But the little parties are for everyone and each neighborhood sets one up. Just like beer and food trucks and live music.”
“Some people call the whole thing ‘santos populares’ because sometimes there is more than one saint.”
3. Analysis
This is a festival that honors the informant’s nationality and provides an opportunity to celebrate with friends and family and engage in patriotism through folklore. It engages tradition and a variety of folkloric practices to honor Portuguese saints and build city pride. It is folklore in that it is artistic communication in the broader community and none of the festival practices have authored ownership.