Portuguese tradition still going strong in Fall River with Holy Ghost feast

As though the sound of so many brass bands kept the threat of rainstorms at bay, gray skies Sunday gave way to shimmers of late-afternoon sun as spectators witnessed the capstone procession of the annual Great Feast of the Holy Ghost.

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FALL RIVER — As though the sound of so many brass bands kept the threat of rainstorms at bay, gray skies Sunday gave way to shimmers of late-afternoon sun as spectators witnessed the capstone procession of the annual Great Feast of the Holy Ghost.

On the cool late-August afternoon, hundreds of people gathered along South Main Street to hear the time-honored music performed by Portuguese philharmonic bands from New England and beyond that participated in the Procession of Coronation.

“It’s a tradition. The feast, the procession and the holy spirit,” Celestina Alves, of Providence, said sitting in lawn chairs beside three friends with whom attending the feast of the Holy Ghost has been an annual event for a decade.

Friend Theresa Martins pulled her white jacket tight when a gust of wind blew on South Main Street, as hundreds of others sat waiting for musicians to wind their way west from Saint Mary’s Cathedral to Kennedy Park.

Maria Almeida, who said she was one of approximately five-dozen people who took a 14-hour bus ride from outside Toronto to Fall River, held an umbrella printed with the Canadian maple leaf.

After a few drops of light rain fell, storm clouds began to dissipate and Almeida said she has traveled to Fall River annually since the celebration was launched by Heitor Sousa in 1986, a celebration that has grown to be one of the largest Azorean celebrations on the planet.

“The group is like a family,” she said. “We sing, we joke — the holy ghost is good for us.”

Residents gathered on front porches to watch the many bands whose members marched steps timed with the beat of the music.

Julieann Camara carried a Holy Ghost Crown along the processional route, giving due care to the symbol that represents the goodness and charity of Queen Isabel of Portugal.

One day earlier, on Saturday, participants celebrated Azorean culture with the Bodo de Leite parade, which wound its way from Ponta Delgada Boulevard to Columbia Street and South Main Street towards Kennedy Park.

At noontime Sunday the faithful observed a solemn Mass and coronation at noon at St. Mary’s Cathedral, led by D. Gilberto Delio N. dos Reis, the bishop emeritus of Setubal, Portugal, alongside the Rev. Edgar Moreira da Cunha, bishop of Fall River. 

The cathedral was the starting point for the Procession of Coronation, which Carla Camara, of New Bedford, brings her family to annually.

For her 11-year-old son Austin, the primary attraction of the day was the promise of sweet treats. But for Camara, like so many others, it was the customary religious festivities that draw her to Fall River.

“It’s beautiful,” Camara said, “and it’s our tradition. We come here every year.”

Email Amanda Burke at aburke@heraldnews.com.