Brava: Santa Cruz party girl says she is prepared to fulfill another year of her promise made 24 years ago

Maria Gonçalves, better known as Barbinha, from Braga, Ilha Brava, said today that she is prepared to fulfill another year of her promise made 24 years ago to celebrate Santa Cruz, on May 3rd.

Barbinha is a sixty-year-old woman living in Braga and amidst the difficulties imposed by her health and day-to-day life, as she revealed, every year at this time she is already prepared to fulfill her mission, which she assumed 24 years ago, to celebrate Santa Cruz in the Favatal area, the fruit of a promise and the faith he deposits in this saint.

In previous years, due to the situation experienced in the world and in the country, caused by the covid-19 pandemic, it celebrated in a different way, with the distribution of basic food baskets to some families, chosen by the emigrants who support it, who placed the cross in the place of always, with the presence of seven people and they made a soup to offer to anyone passing by.

This party woman recalled that 24 years ago an 88-year-old lady, who celebrated Santa Cruz, the festival that opens the Pilgrimage festivities and with the tradition of the “pilon” in Brava, already felt a little weakened and unable to continue this mission, in the midst of all who were there, he was entrusted with this mission of continuing the festivities.

As Barbinha said, when she took on the commitment, the party was made with pieces of bread, coffee or juice, depending on the possibility of the partygoers, which were placed on a towel on the floor and each one of those present in this ritual helped themselves.

After taking responsibility, Barbinha started cooking and, in the first year, she made a pot and by the time she reached the fourth year she had already made six, and this year she intends to make more than ten, an amount she has been cooking for several years.

But the party woman made it very clear that she does the party and the food, but that it is not with her money, as she lives on what she earns from her pension.

In fact, he explained, the financial help comes from the population of Brave and the emigrants, who each contribute according to their ability, not least because, as he pointed out, if it is a box of matches, it is also “welcome”, and that for this year he predicts “some surprise” for visitors, without giving further details.

However, Barbinha recalled that having this feast is not just about food and other rituals, but that it is necessary “to put in thought and memory what the Cross that is celebrated really means”.

According to the same source, this year fell at a “special time”, taking into account that not long ago the Passion of Christ and Easter were celebrated, and the Cross is the celebration of the death and Passion of Christ.

Barbinha explained that the party normally starts on the 2nd with the “pilon” and, on the 3rd, in the morning, they go to church to attend mass, wear the Cross with a red cover, put flowers on it, and walk in the streets of house to house, playing the trumpet and drum, with the coladeiras, and there are dancers who dance the “colinha”, a special dance in which they wear a skirt and black pants, with red shirts.

About the tradition itself, the “pilon” in Brava is where people prepare corn for part of the meals that are served on the eve and on the day of the patron saint.

This party woman said that she usually has more than 200 people to feed, as the party is not just from the island, but people come from other parts of the archipelago, in addition to tourists and emigrants, who participate in this ritual.

And even with the situation experienced during the pandemic, he guaranteed that the tradition did not die due to his faith and the faith that the people who have supported him deposit in Santa Cruz, promising to have a “tough party” this year.

“I have people more than food and that's how I hope to count this year. And that the little you have can reach everyone as in all previous years”, concluded the party, stressing that every year, when it comes to suspending the cross, there are many who put their hand, but it does not give anyone to take it and celebrate at your home or in your area.