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| Holy Ghost Flags and the "festeira." | Holy Ghost Flags Procession |
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| The Holy Ghost Image. Holy Ghost Procession. | |
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| Holy Ghost Flags and the "festeira." | Holy Ghost Flags Procession |
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| The Holy Ghost Image. Holy Ghost Procession. | |
This is an old Catholic celebration - brought over from Portugal in the eighteenth century - that is still very much alive in the colonial town of Paraty, on the coast south of Rio de Janeiro. It takes place 50 days after Easter and lasts for a whole week, beginning with food preparations that envolve the entire population of Paraty and culminating with a procession and the election of the new "festeiro" (or "festeira"), the person who'll be in charge of the following year's celebrations. It's the most important folkloric festival in town and attracts huge crowds of tourists.
As part of the festivities, a young boy is crowned "prince" and bags of sweets are given to all children; meals of meat are cooked in homes and distributed to the needy, and there are processions of Holy Ghost Flags and folkloric dances in the streets every day.
When I was growing up in southern Brazil, I still knew the tradiiton of having the Holy Ghost Flag visit and bless our homes every year.