Festas do Emigrante, 2011

As it was written a few post ago on this blog, the current month here in Portugal - which we are now seeing come to a close - is synonymous with the homecoming of Portuguese emigrants. From all over the world they fly in and from European countries they drive as well. The month of August, as many emigrants will tell you, is the month of complete and utter happiness, when the yearning to return, if only for a few weeks, is finally realised; when family and old friends are again seen; when senses, smells and visions of other times are re-encountered; and when spirits are renewed. Many are the songs written about Portuguese emigration, but arguably non capture this sentiment (as simple as it may be stated) as that of the song Voltei, Voltei by Dino Meira. If you don't know it, it goes like this: "Voltei voltei, voltei de lá; Ainda ontem estava em França e agora já estou cá. ... Vale mais um mês aqui do que um ano inteiro lá", or in other words: "I came I came, I came back from their; I was in France yesterday and now I'm here. ... One month here is more valuable then an entire year there".

And so every year during the month of August, villages, towns, municipalities through parties, or festas, if you will to commemorate the homecoming of its son and daughters. The Festa do Emigrante serves up food, drink, live music, folklore, games, fireworks, dancing, and many other things. In some towns they are the biggest parties of the year, prepared for ahead of time and in some cases even payed for by the emigrants abroad.

With this post we pay homage to this tradition by showing posters from some of this years Festas do Emigrante from different parts of Portugal. At the same time we take this opportunity to wish all emigrants who have been here during this month of August safe journeys "home". Hang in there during the Fall, Winter and Spring as next year there'll be more. Here are some posters from this years festas.