The Azoreans have a strongly religious culture, manifesting itself in several traditional festivals. One of them is the cult of the Holy Spirit, a festivity that takes place throughout the period between Easter Sunday and Trinity Sunday, throughout all the islands of the archipelago.
Although celebrated with different particularities from island to island, the Holy Ghost festivities have great significance and clearly highlight the religious culture of the Azoreans.
Every year an emperor is nominated by parish or municipality and, besides being the main figure of the festivities, he is the person in charge of organizing and carrying out the feast in his locality. He organizes the procession, the feast and the gastronomic part that this entails. Usually wine, meat, homemade bread and batter are donated door-to-door.
Some important symbols of the feast are, for example, the crown, the scepter, the orb, and the flag of the Holy Spirit, which are collected from the butler’s house and taken to the church for the coronation ceremony.
During these weeks a set of meals, donations and distribution of food to the population are organized, highlighting the famous soups of the Holy Spirit, made from wheat bread and beef. These soups are one of the typical dishes of the Azores and acquire several different characteristics among the nine islands.
It is in this period between Easter and Pentecost that many emigrants return to the islands to remember this tradition with their families.
If you are visiting the Azores during this time, join the party and get to know a little more of the rich Azorean culture.
