The Government of the Azores, through the Office of the Regional Assistant Secretary of the Presidency for External Relations, promotes the celebration of Europe Day with several activities to be held throughout the archipelago.
 
The celebration programme covers all the municipalities of the Region. It includes educational and cultural activities on Pico, where official ceremonies will take place under the motto of the European Year of Cultural Heritage. These activities are intended to draw people's attention to the existence, importance and role of the Azorean cultural heritage in the European context, focusing on the whaling heritage and the Pico vineyard landscape classified by UNESCO.
 
The celebrations begin on May 8 in Madalena with the performance of the Anthem of Europe and the initiative designated as "Talks in the Cellar." The latter will address themes related to the European Year of Cultural Heritage, with special emphasis on the recognition of Pico Vineyard Landscape.
 
This gathering will take place at the Wine Cooperative. It will be attended by artist João Ramos, who will address public art and community involvement, Manuel Costa will discuss the contribution of museums to territorial development. In turn, Manuel Tomaz will talk about Pico writers. The event also includes the performance of a "Chamarrita" dance in the traditional style of Pico Island.
 
On May 9, Europe Day, the programme will be held in Lajes do Pico, where eight workshops will take place. The activities will involve two hundred elementary school students, who will be guided by the "Mother Europe" character.
 
These recreational and informative workshops will focus on European and local heritage, from whaling heritage, vineyard landscape and local writers to emblematic monuments, costumes and personalities from European Union countries. Moreover, there will also be a game about Europe.
 
In addition to these initiatives, which take place at the Centre for Arts and Sciences of the Sea, two exhibitions will open to the public. The first one, promoted by Lajes Social Centre, will display miniatures of emblematic monuments of EU capitals, while the second, organised by Lajes Basic Education and Secondary School, recreates works of art from reused materials.
 
The celebration programme continues in São Roque do Pico during the afternoon with the opening of a mural work by artist João Ramos and the promotion of intergenerational moments involving the school and non-school community.
 
The São Roque Basic Education and Secondary School will hold a European parade that includes identity symbols of EU Member States, a musical performance, the construction of a cultural mosaic and an exhibition on the diversity of costumes; the latter is organised by the Social Centres.
 
The celebration of Europe Day in the Region features, for the second time, the "Europe Street" initiative, involving the participation of 18 municipalities from nine islands of the archipelago. It includes the placing of the 28 flags of Member States and the European Union on a street at the choice of local authorities.
 
This initiative, which will run from May 3 to 7, aims to arouse the curiosity of citizens for the event celebrated on May 9 that involves municipalities in the celebrations.
 
Moreover, the multimedia contest under the theme "Cultural and Natural Heritage" is an initiative directed to secondary school and vocational training school students in the Region. It continues to be an important part of the Europe Day celebrations. The results will be presented on May 3, when the finalists of each island and the top three works at regional level will be made public.
 
The best video will be broadcast by RTP/Açores on May 9 and the best works will be posted on the Regional Government's YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/GovernodosAcores) and on the Facebook page of the Office of the Regional Assistant Secretary of the Presidency for External Relations (https://www.facebook.com/assuntoseuropeusecooperacaoexternagovernodosacores/).
 
The winning team will be awarded a trip to Lisbon and Porto and their video will be broadcast on RTP/Açores. In turn, the team placed in second will receive a set of 15 books for the school library and the third a set of 10 books.
 
All finalist team members will receive a book as a participation prize.