News
Check out news stories about Soajo or other
cities and villages in the Soajo region.
Events
Summer in Soajo is when the fun starts. It never gets excessively hot
in Soajo. Soajo is located on the eastern sire of the Serra de Soajo
mountain. The winds and high elevation keep the heat under control. The
sky is almost always a deep blue during the summer. The rivers provide a
wonderful and relaxing escape from the heat. There are secluded
waterfalls and lagoons where total relaxation can be achieved. Many of
these are only known to the locals. The more popular and most public
swimming area is Poco Negro (which translated to "Dark Lagoon").
This is a fantastic place to swim, dive, have fun with friends. It's a
rocky area so bring appropriate footwear.
Annual Festivals in Vila de Soajo
Traditionally, Soajo celebrated its Festivals (Festas) in accordance with
the religious calendar. For example, the festival honoring Nossa Senhora das Dores
(Our Lady of Pain & Suffering) was celebrated on September 15th Other
festivals honoring such Saints as Santo António occurred on the 13th of July,
Mártir São Sebastião took place on the 20th of January and São Martinho on the
11th of November.
To raise
funds for the festivals, it was customary on the Monday of Easter for
supporters of each saint (usually two boys and two girls) to go to the various
neighborhoods and other villages surrounding Soajo to ask for contributions
from residents for each festival. Contributions usually consisted of “corn”.
Residents would leave a basket of corn in front of their homes or on the road
to be collected by the boys and girls. The fundraisers would share some of the
corn collected with the poor and less fortunate. The remaining corn would be
sold a week later and the proceeds used to fund the festivals.
In recent
decades, the festivals have been held from August 12-15 for all saints. This
change in scheduling took place to accommodate the fact that many of Soajo’s
sons and daughters emigrated and would only return to Soajo for summer
vacations in the month of August.
The
festivals are annually organized by a small committee (called “festeiros”) made
up of 4 or 5 male Soajeiros. Each year, on August 15th, the current year’s
“festeiros” nominate their replacements for the following year’s festival. At
the end of the festival on August 15th the “festeiros” visit the home of each
newly nominated “festeiro” to formally hand over the responsibility for the
next year’s festival. Lots of wine and celebration accompanies this traditional
transition from one committee to another.
The other
villages that are part of Soajo such as, Cunhas, Paradela, Varzea, Vilar de
Suente, Vilarinho das Quartas, Adrao, and Campo
Grande, also have their own special festivals on the
following days:
Cunhas:
Second Sunday of October to honor Our Lady of Fatima (Nossa Senhora de Fátima).
Paradela:
June 13th to honor Saint Anthony (Santo António).
Várzea:
September 29th to honor Saint Michael the Angel (Sao Miguel-o-Anjo) and
December 13th in honor of Saint Luzia.
Vilar de
Suente: Second Sunday of July to celebrate Saint Anthony (Santo António).
Vilarinho
das Quartas: June 10th to honor Nossa Senhora da Guia.
Adrão: June
29 to honor Our Lady of Conception (Nossa Senhora da Conceição). Also, a small
“romaria” dedicated to Senhor da Paz occurs in Adrao 40 days after Easter.
Campo Grande: Second Sunday of August to honor
Nossa Senhora do Livramento.