Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

Princeton Portuguese Festa

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The Portuguese Festa (fes-tah) is about food, have you ever been to a Festa? Today in a small town called, Princeton in California, there is a Portuguese Festa. It takes place each year on the last Sunday of June. My family with many other Portuguese families, in the area, help put it together. The Portuguese Festa is a tradition dating back to Queen Isabella of Aragon, Portugal. It is a celebration of faith, of thanksgiving and tradition.
                                                                                        
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The Princeton Portuguese Festa expects to feed between 800 to 1200 people. Have you ever cooked food for that many people? It is a sight to behold. The preparations for the two meals starts four days before the Festa in and around the Princeton Portuguese Hall.
The meat (beef) is raised, butchered and donated by local Portuguese farmers. The sopas, and potato salad are prepared by hand. It is a staggering amount of chopped cabbage, garlic, sliced onions, diced eggs, de-boning meat, peeled potatoes… Slicing the French bread alone was more bread then I have ever cut in my life and I live in the land of French bread!
 
 
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It is a family affair, everyone helps out, the sense of community is abundant, the work involved doesn't seem like work because of the camaraderie gained.
Tradition continues by passing on labor as love.
 
Photos above: The preparation for the festa, sopas, preparing the meat, slicing the bread and gathering the sweet bread.

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The Portuguese Festa begins with a parade. Tradition has it, that a little girl who has made her first communion, and a young woman who has been confirmed in the Catholic church are chosen to be crowned Festa Queen for the day.

In the 14th century Queen Isabella of Portugal made a promise to God that if her people survived the terrible famine she would crown a young poor maiden Queen for a day, and put on a feast each year in thanksgiving to God for hearing her prayers. The Portuguese people in towns throughout Portugal and North America carry on with this tradition.

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The crown is carried in the parade by the last year's Queen. The parade begins at the hall where the feast is prepares, and ends at the Church were a mass is said to celebrate the day. During the Mass the priest places the crown on those who want a special blessing.

The symbolic gesture of having the crown placed on my head makes me feel connected to the tradition of many festas before and to come. The crown is blessed and is carried out by the new Queen.

 

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After the parade and mass the festa begins, it is served outside. Long tables are set up for a traditional Portuguese meal to be served. The food, the preparation of the food, the cooking, serving, and cleaning up is provided by volunteer help. After three days of helping I can honestly say my legs feel like they are going to fall off.

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Sopas a typical festa food is made by simmering beef bones, with spices and cabbage for hours in a large copper pot. Then when the broth is done it is poured over thick sliced of dried French bread and fresh mint. It is served pipping hot.

After my legs fall off I think the second thing is that my hands will smell like mint for a long time to come.

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The farm raised beef is cooked in large pots with onions, garlic, bacon, red wine, and a selection of secret spices, cinnamon being one of them. The large pots of meat are put into an outdoor, wood-buning oven to bake for several hours a few days before the Festa. Then they're set out to marinate, and re baked the day of the festa.

What cultural tradition do you celebrate?

 
Recipes, photos and details of the Portuguese Festa…
I am off to prepare for this years Sunday's feast!
My cousins is the older "Queen", and Molly my neice is the younger "Queen" this year.
 
Everyone is welcomed to come to the meal this Sunday afternoon (Midday until two.)
 
 
 

Comments

35 responses to “Princeton Portuguese Festa”

  1. Isabel ~ Maison Douce

    Oh, how I would love to come and get a little taste of home…!!!
    Isabel

    Reply
  2. Karen@PasGrand-Chose

    What a wonderful tradition, Corey. I enjoyed enlarging all these photos to see it all better (wow, the crown really is beautiful!).
    I lived and went to school in Lisbon years ago, and my favourite feast day was the Festa de Santo Antonio, patron saint of Lisbon, which happens at a similar time, around the 13th June. Your post brought back such happy memories of families, eating and celebrations.

    Reply
  3. Elaine L.

    When I was going to Fresno State U, I met a Portuguese couple and was invited to a Festa at Pismo Beach. It was a lot of fun.
    ~elaine~

    Reply
  4. Irina

    Oh, I so LOVE this in keeping with tradition! The food sounds delicious, wished I was there 🙂 lots of work and lots of fun!
    love those huge copper pots.

    Reply
  5. Sam

    What a wonderful tradition, I had no idea it dated back so far, the history of the holiday was interesting to read. Is your brother juggling bread, lol, what else to you do when you’re up to your gills in it? Congratulations to Molly, I can imagine her big brown eyes beaming up from under the crown. Bet mom and dad, and all your other relatives will be looking on with pride when she’s crowned.
    My family is a hodgepodge of different cultural traditions, New Year and Christmas are the big ones.

    Reply
  6. Kathie B

    Oh Corey, how I wish I were there this weekend! (Que eu estivesse por lá neste fim de semana)
    I’ve been lucky enough to attend festas in California, Canada AND the Azores thus far! There are slight variations in the sopas menu everywhere, from island to island in the Azores, even from village to village on the same island, although the basic meal is the same, as Corey describes. In the overseas communities (e.g., North America) the menu typically varies depending on the island of origin of the majority of Azorean settlers there (Corey’s is probably Terceiran).
    As a (lacto-ovo) vegetarian, I have to wrestle with my conscience as to whether to eat the sopas itself, regardless of its being part of my father’s cultural heritage — and I have ultimately rationalized that I’ll eat the meat broth, because it is so highly strained that it contains no visible animal flesh (LOL!). Of course I mainly eat the soaked bread and whatever cooked vegetables are served with it (cabbage or kale, also potatoes in some communities but not others); I’ve never seen diced eggs with it, as Corey mentions, however.
    An Azorean-Canadian girlfriend of mine who’s vegan (strictest vegetarian, with no eggs or dairy either) and even somewhat into the raw-food movement, does the same thing as I do 🙂 However, neither of us eats any of the actual meats (including alcatra).
    Corey, does the Princeton festa serve sliced massa sovada (sweet round egg bread) and/or rice pudding at the table? Some places do, others don’t. Calheta, São Jorge, serves both dishes along with the meal, even a choice of rice pudding with or without egg yolk; both kinds are scented with fresh lemon, although the egg-type is a yellower shade so the two kinds are easy to tell apart.
    BTW, after I learned about my family’s well-concealed Portugueseness, my much-older first cousin told me about how, back before the War when he was a little boy, our family used to drive back to their hometown (in Northern California) to attend its Holy Ghost festival each year. His favorite memory was hanging out with the men on Saturday night, putting wood on the fires so the sopas could cook in the huge vats over the flames. Corey, do your mom, aunts and uncles remember cooking sopas over wood-fires, or are they too young?

    Reply
  7. Kathie B

    For anyone wishing to read more about Holy Ghost festas in California, I’d like to invite you to visit a page on my website where I’ve posted an abridged version of a talk I gave (in English) last month on the topic:
    http://www.mycalifornianfriends.com/commentary.htm
    You can read Vasco Pereira da Costa’s poem “Queen Nancy” at:
    http://www.rtp.pt/icmblogs/rtp/comunidades/?k=QUEEN-NANCYpoema-deVasco-Pereira-da-Costa.rtp&post=25930
    (scroll down for my English translation)
    With Corey’s permission, I quoted (and acknowledged) in my talk a section from her blog-post re the Princeton festa three years ago, and inserted some of her photos in my PowerPoint display. Afterwards, a number of people came up to me to compliment Corey’s photos (why is no one here surprised?).

    Reply
  8. jackie

    There is a large Portuguese community here in New England and I love to go to their festivals! I have great memories of my kids (4 Chinese kids) sitting at a picnic table with a bunch of elderly Portuguese men eating grilled sardines with some kind of hot pepper relish. The old men were tickled to see young kids devouring the spicy treats. I also remember the first time I ever ate a malasada, it was like biting into a sugary cloud! I have a Portuguese friend who calls me when they are making them so I can drive in (from Massachusetts to Rhode Island) and get them hot out of the bubbling cooking oil. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Deeeelish!

    Reply
  9. Marilyn

    What a lovely tradition. No family traditions like this in my family. Celebrate well.

    Reply
  10. Shelley@thiswhiteshed.blogspot.com

    How lucky you are to have such a colourful and delectable heritage. Our turkey and boiled to mush root vegetables certainly pales in comparison!

    Reply
  11. Kelleyn

    What a great festival!

    Reply
  12. Cheryl~ Casual Cottage Chic

    Thank you for all the fabulous pictures and history lesson. Appears to be quite a large celebration; the first time I’ve read about it. Nothing like that going on around here in my part of So. Calif. but perhaps not a large enough gathering of Portuguese live in this area. Too bad, as it looks to be a wonderful celebration! What’s for dessert??

    Reply
  13. Kathie B

    If you can’t get to the Princeton [CA.] Holy Ghost Festa — or want to attend more than one this summer! — they’re held on different weekends in different communities, so check your local newspaper for info (a few have already been held this year, alas).
    1. Article “Holy Ghost Fests a feast for Portuguese Azoreans” in Thursday’s San Francisco “Chronicle” on HGFs listed a few in the Bay Area:
    http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/06/23/DDOH1JVKG5.DTL&type=entertainment
    a) Sunday, San Leandro: IDES St. John, 1670 Orchard Ave.; (510) 895-2308.
    b) Sunday, San Jose: IES Hall, 1401 E. Santa Clara St.; (408) 294-6343.
    c) July 3, Mountain View: SFV Lodge, 361 Villa St.; (650) 967-8549.
    d) July 24, Newark: PFSA Hall, 6430 Thornton Ave; (510) 793-4062.
    2. Benicia [CA.] Festa (Holy Ghost Celebration), July 24, 2011, at the B.D.E.S. Hall, 140 West J Street:
    http://beniciaholyghost.org/bdes-festa.html
    For more information, contact: Ken Gonsalves, (707) 745-0285
    3. Contact the Portuguese Fraternal Society of America at (510) 483-7676, or search for 2011 festa listings at:
    http://www.mypfsa.org

    Reply
  14. Kathie B

    Cheryl, I believe a number of Azorean-heritage communities in SoCal hold festas with sopas lunches, e.g., Artesia, Chino, and in the San Diego and San Luis Obispo County areas (e.g., possibly Point Loma and Morro Bay, respectively). Try searching online for details.
    In 2011 the Artesia Divino Espírito Santo [DES] will be holding their Holy Ghost Festival the week of July 24 – August 1 AND their St. Anthony festa September 23-25 (with sopas lunches presumably on the last days of each):
    http://www.artesiades.org/home/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=14&MMN_position=18:18
    Hope you can find something near you!

    Reply
  15. Laurie SF

    Stuck in the city this weekend. Otherwise I’d be there in a heartbeat! Have fun and big hugs to your Mom. She looks fabulous..oxo

    Reply
  16. georgie

    That looks like so much work but so much fun! Our community was settled by Scandinavians. May 17th is Norwegian Independence Day and we have a parade with people in traditional dress, Norwegian ponies, the local high school marching band etc. I’ve never participated but enjoyed watching the parade. Then in the summer the local businesses have a sidewalk sale and vendors sell craft and food items. There are live musical acts and events. One is a lutefisk eating contest. Even though I’m of Norwegian ancestry there is no way I’d eat lutefisk! Apparently many countries serve a similar dish, which is made with dried salt cod. The smell is unique-to put it mildly.

    Reply
  17. Rhonda P.

    There is not enough tradition in this country! I love yours so much – I sure wish I could attend.

    Reply
  18. Susan

    I’m just glad the weather will be wonderful this year-not 105 degrees, only about 90! It is a very interesting tradition in this area-I actually have never been to one, as I am not Portuguese or Catholic, but I love the idea of all these people coming together in the community!

    Reply
  19. Kathie B

    You don’t have to attend mass in order to watch the parade, go to the sopas lunch or take in any of the other activities.

    Reply
  20. Marie

    The Festa for me is… Go in hungry, go home tired, dirty feet that look black, and bellies full!
    Yay! The festa is almost here!!!!! SO happy!

    Reply
  21. Marie

    I will explain the dirty feet: If you look at the picture of molly and maci gathering bread, Molly is barefoot. We run around barefoot in the hall and all around. That is what i mean by dirty black feet!

    Reply
  22. Franca Bollo

    Two of my strongest memories of the festas are the lupini beans and the dancing of the chamarrita. Will it be performed on Sunday?
    To see the dance, here is a video from Azorean island, Pico.
    http://tinyurl.com/6b2qy9a

    Reply
  23. Sam

    Those are some of the cutest dirty feet I’ve ever seen. Have fun at the Festa, girls. Hope you stuff yourselves and fun around till your dirty feet feel like falling off.

    Reply
  24. Birdbrain

    OK girls (Franca Bollo and Corey), I remember getting a new festa dress every summer, typically a sundress and maybe some new summer sandals. I can still remember some of them in detail. We always went to the Orland and Princeton festas and went to both lunch and dinner. So much fun! Wish I could go tomorrow, but too much going on, dang it!

    Reply
  25. Mélanie Aussandon

    I celebrate provencal traditions like Saint Jean , saint eloi …

    Reply
  26. Bramble

    What a wonderful tradition for your family to participate in. Years ago my husband had some Portugese subcontractors and they talked about alot of traditions that were new to us. The most “interesting one” was the fish in wine/port/madeira (?) that is a tradition on Christmas Eve… we were invited to several peoples homes throughout the holidays and we were well fed with new and delicious treats. Enjoy your feasting, though we don’t have them here, we DO have a fabulous Portugese restaurant.

    Reply
  27. gloria p

    As soon as read “sopas” I thought “Azores”.
    My hometown (New Bedford, Mass.) has a number of Portuguese feasts all summer long, each in honor of a different saint from different parts of Portugal. The largest is the huge Espirito Santo feast the first weekend in August, sponsored by organizations of refugees from the Madeira Islands. Their specialty is carne espeto (beef shish-kabob), stewed rabbit and cacoila (pork?) They also make malasadas, an Azorean treat. It has been many years since we’ve been back there but our grown kids still remember it fondly.

    Reply
  28. Gail Sullivan

    congrats to Miss Molly being a junion queen.
    xoxo
    Gail

    Reply
  29. Brenda, Walker, LA, USA

    This sounds like the “May Procession” we used to have when I was making my “First Communion”…Fond memories of how my mom used paper doilies and gathered every kind of blooming flower from her yard to make us all beautiful bouquets to hold with trailing ribbons.

    Reply
  30. Marie-Noëlle

    “La fête des Conscrits” at Villefranche Sur Saône (And only there. Last week end in January)

    Reply
  31. Victoria Cullen

    It’s great being Portuguese for this celebration alone!!! Yum!!! Makes me hungry for sopas and sweet bread (I could eat an entire loaf in one sitting by myself!). Sincerely, A Fellow Port-a-gee

    Reply
  32. jend’isère

    Afternoon was spent dancing around a floral maypole to songs about frogs, pigs and foxes. Imbibed spirits fed by pickled fish, potatoes and fruit tartes played and basked in a snow peaked mountain valley. Flags of blue, white, red flapped next to yellow and blue. Midsommar igen.

    Reply
  33. Danna

    It was so much fun to learn about this tradition. Although if was very difficult for me to read because for several months (maybe longer) I am on a strict macrobiotic diet.
    I grew up in a Czechoslovakian farming community, Ennis, and though we are not Czech, it’s traditions are certainly a part of who I am. Seems those things become ever more important with each passing year.
    Thank you for sharing the details, Corey… and your beautiful memories.
    Danna

    Reply
  34. Gracie

    I didn’t know a thing about this, ad I’m glad you posted it for us to know. How interesting and it’s so nice you still celebrate it!

    Reply
  35. Victoria Ramos

    Festa!!! The last Sunday in June is our Festa, too – San Pedro Festa in Bryte. This year was our 89th. Our association is made up individuals who originated from the Madeira Islands. We make and serve Carne Espeto – which is different from the other Festas that are held around us (those are Azorean with the sopas) in Freeport, Lincoln, Sacramento (Pocket), Rio Vista, Elk Grove — and I highly recommend to everyone, if there is a Portuguese Festa in your community, you should check them out.
    I love all the memories I have that are so familiar to what you wrote as well as some of those in the comments — the memories flood in every year — decorating floats and sprucing up the park and capela in the weekends before the event, linguica sandwiches, orange soda, marching in the parade, the mass, sweet bread, dirty feet, 100 degree heat, stuffed to the gills, music playing over the speakers, dancing and laughing at ‘the old people’ dancing.
    I was everything form being an angel on a float to being St. Elizabeth to finally being ‘big queen’ when I was 17. I marched in parades in and around the Sacramento area.
    Thank you for sharing your photos!

    Reply

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