Festival of St. John
Portugal is an amazing, colorful country. On June 24th Proverb and I went to the Festa de S. João in the neighboring village of S. João de Sobrado for the Procissão de S. João. (Procession of St. John) and the Dança Entrada de Mour e Bugios (Dancing Entrance of the Moors and the Bugios). The event is a parade, half religious and half, if I understand it correctly, celebration of the role played by the Bugios in the defeat of the Moors in Portugal during the Middle Ages.
No one I spoke to had a clear idea of exactly who or what the Bugios were, or what role they played in defeating the Moors, but in the Dança Entrada de Mour e Bugios segment of the parade the Bugios were represented by a hundred or so men dressed in bright red costumes and a variety of festive masks. The program stated that both the Bugios and the Moors would 'enter dancing', but I couldn't tell who was supposed to be a Moor since they all wore essentially the same bright red military-style costume. Maybe the distinction was in the masks since I doubt that a Moor ever wore a bright red military uniform.
An image of the religious portion of the parade. The icon is S. João.
The crowd joined the parade behind the religious procession.
And finally, the dancing Bugios entered.
This summer Proverb and I have been able to take some short trips to various cities in northern and central Portugal. I look forward to writing about them and sharing more photos.