The Saint and Sardine Mashup

Also music, dancing, feasting, Super Bock, parades, more music, more Super Bock, more dancing, more music, more Super Bock, and fireworks.

Festival Sao Joao is a week-long festival that originated as a pagan celebration in the 14^th century. It was repurposed by the Catholic Church as a festival for St. John. Catholic saints like St. John, St. Peter, and St. Anthony seem to provide an approved excuse for summertime celebrations that include dancing, music, parades, fireworks, feasting, and no shortage of Super Bock beer and revelry. Across Porto, the traditional meal of grilled sardines and green peppers gave a delicious aroma to the air. Music concerts of all kinds, carnival rides for kids, traditional dancing competitions with colorful costumes, in short every kind of fun was available. I imagine there was some church activity dedicated to St. John as well, but if so, it was well down the list of crowd attractions.

New Stars in the Sky

I don’t like being in huge crowds. But this was like nothing I’ve ever experienced.

On the night of June 23, my neighbors Ryan, Eric, and I strolled down to the Ribeira area to see the action. We joined their friends Terese and Josh, who were visiting from the US. Hundreds of glowing paper lantern balloons floated in the night sky like newly arrived stars. The crowd was huge and happy and polite. No pushing or jostling. Kids were having a great time, along with their parents and grandparents and tourists. There were plenty of happy people who had imbibed their share of beer, but not one person was obnoxious. We passed Super Bock beer stands and outdoor restaurants overflowing onto the sidewalks. People danced and sang and laughed. They tapped each other on the head with plastic hammers. Alternatively, the pagan traditionalists hit people with garlic instead of hammers.

With some helpful advice from experienced locals, we launched our lantern balloons and watched them float to the universe above. The crowds cheered each launch. Mine was a bright magenta color, the biggest I could find at the China store. It stood about 4 feet (1.22 meters) tall.

As it lifted gently into the night, I silently asked it to take blessings of peace and healing for my brother and his family, who have suffered a grievous loss this year, and for my friend Dawn, who is one of the bravest people I know. I watched it rise and rise, to join the other stars over the Douro. It became a small pinpoint of light, and then went beyond sight.

We made our way almost to the river edge in Ribeira, where we were literally packed like sardines. There was still an hour to go before the fireworks, so we elected to retreat from the dense crowd to more comfortable streets above.

This is the narrative. But honestly, there is no way to describe the magic of this night. There were tens of thousands of happy partyers. Yet there was an undertone of reverence upon seeing the lanterns escape gravity to drift high in the sky. It was almost as if we were sending a little bit of ourselves to touch infinity.

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