On the back of the Ala-Arriba t-shirt there are several words about faith: “Poveirinhos pela graça de Deus”, “Fé em Deus”, “S. Pedro”. If you’re from Póvoa, it’s a family conversation. If you’re not, it’s a door into one of the city’s strongest traditions.
Why the sea calls for faith
The lives of Poveiros fishermen have always been inseparable from the sea, and the sea has always been uncertain. Devotion was a way of asking for protection, and among the saints there is one who is dearest of all: Saint Peter (São Pedro), the fisherman saint and patron of the poveiros (the people of Póvoa). His day, 29 June, is a municipal holiday in Póvoa.
The Festas de São Pedro
The Saint Peter night, from 28 to 29 June, is known as the “longest night of the year”: grilled sardines, bonfires, thrones and music in the streets, with thousands of people going from neighbourhood to neighbourhood until morning. The six traditional neighbourhoods, Belém, Matriz, Mariadeira, Norte, Regufe and Sul, compete with each other in the thrones dedicated to the saint and in the rusgas, the marching parades with choreographies and songs prepared over months. The girls parade in lace blouses, aprons in their neighbourhood’s colours and striped stockings, like the tricanas. The rivalry is serious, but the neighbourhood pride is a healthy one.
The party doesn’t end with the night: it lasts around eleven days, from 25 June to 5 July, with street lights, concerts, rusgas dancing at the Varzim stadium and a closing parade. The religious side remains, with Mass and a procession.
A festival that was reborn
The festivities were not always continuous. They stopped after the 1892 tragedy and were only resumed, in an organised way, in 1962, on the Municipality’s initiative. According to the Municipal Museum, the idea first came up between 1953 and 1954, when a June festival was being sought to bring forward the start of the bathing season: the Saint John festivals were already strong in Braga, Porto and Vila do Conde, and Saint Peter, patron of the Poveiro fishermen, was the ideal choice. The rusgas were inspired by Lisbon’s popular marches and adapted to Póvoa. In 1974 the date became a municipal holiday.
The romarias of the sea
Poveiro faith isn’t limited to June. Two fishermen’s romarias (religious pilgrimages) have a special connection to the landscape:
- Senhora da Saúde (Our Lady of Health): on the last Sunday of May, the pilgrimage covers about 7 kilometres between the Igreja Matriz (Mother Church) and the chapel at the foot of Monte de São Félix, a landmark for fishermen at sea.
- Santo André (Saint Andrew): a pilgrimage that passes along the beaches to the chapel of Santo André. Poveiro fishermen believe this saint is the “ferryman of souls”, who fetches from the bottom of the sea the souls of those who drown.
Many of the participants are fishermen fulfilling vows.
Fé em Deus
“Fé em Deus” (Faith in God) also appears in the text on the t-shirt, and it’s no coincidence: it is the name of a lancha poveira (a traditional Poveiro fishing boat), rebuilt by the Municipal Museum. If you want to see up close what the boat that faced the sea looked like, you can visit the museum, which also keeps the memory of the siglas poveiras. And it is to the sea that the story of Cego do Maio takes us, that of a fisherman who risked his life dozens of times for others.
Why it’s on the Ala-Arriba t-shirt
080AYA’s Ala-Arriba collection is about belonging, and in Póvoa belonging also means faith. The references to God and to Saint Peter are there because this is how this community has always talked about the sea: with respect, with gratitude and with celebration. Whoever wears the t-shirt carries that with them.