Regional Director for Communities participates in opening of the "Year of the Azores in Florianópolis"
The Regional Director for Communities, Paulo Teves, will visit Brazil between February 21 and 24 to participate in the official opening session of the "Year of the Azores in Florianópolis" in the context of the celebrations of the 270th anniversary of the Azorean presence in Santa Catarina.
The meeting will take place on Thursday, February 22, at Florianópolis City Hall, followed by the unveiling of a plaque at Rua dos Ilhéus that will mark the 270 years of the arrival of the first Azoreans in Santa Catarina.
The programme also includes a parade through the streets of downtown Florianópolis, featuring the Folk Dance Group of the House of the Azores of Santa Catarina, "casais festeiros" of the Holy Spirit (couples in charge of organising Holy Spirit festivities), traditional lacemakers and the Philharmonic Band of Santa Catarina Military Police. The parade ends at the Municipal Public Market where the photography exhibition entitled "Azores" will be open at the Art Gallery, depicting landscapes from the nine islands of the archipelago.
On the following day, Paulo Teves will participate in the conference "Azores and Diaspora" to be held under the meeting of the Board of the Centre for Azorean Studies at the Federal University of Santa Catarina. He will also attend the launch of the book entitled "Penha – Relicário do Divino" by Maria do Carmo Ramos Krieger.
On Saturday, February 24, the Regional Director will take part in the conference "Experience of genealogist through the families of the former Portuguese Empire" and in the workshop "Establish a genealogy today in Portugal"; both events are attended by historian Jorge Forjaz.
Also on this day, Paulo Teves will meet with the Board and members of the House of the Azores of Santa Catarina.
During his visit to Brazil, the Regional Director for Communities has scheduled meetings with several entities and local authorities: the Superintendent of the Santa Catarina Cultural Foundation, Rodolfo Pinto da Luz, the President of the State Council of Culture of Santa Catarina, Marcondes Marchetti, the Superintendent of the Foundation for Culture, Tourism and Sport of São José, Joice Porto Luca, and the boards of Franklin Cascaes Foundation and Santa Catarina Book Chamber.
The signing ceremony of the municipal law no.10.290/2017 declaring 2018 as the "Year of the Azores in Florianópolis" took place on October 26, 2017. It acknowledges the contribution of the Azorean presence and its cultural legacy in the development of this city and the State of Santa Catarina.
This designation stemmed from the celebrations of the 270th anniversary of the arrival of the first Azoreans in Santa Catarina on January 6, 1748. However, the group of 461 Azoreans that crossed the Atlantic would only set foot in Santa Catarina on February 22.