World-renowned Madeiran folklore group to perform at Feast of the Blessed Sacrament

NEW BEDFORD – The world-renowned Grupo Folclórico da Casa do Povo da Camacha from Madeira Island will be traveling to the Whaling City to perform at the 108th Feast of the Blessed Sacrament, from Aug. 1 to 4.

With a repertoire spanning centuries-old traditions, the 30-plus member group embodies the spirit of Madeiran folklore, showcasing the Portuguese island’s authentic music, dance, and heritage through their colorful costumes and lively performances.

“They are the group that our folklore group here emulates,” said 2024 Feast of the Blessed Sacrament President Tony Abreu. “So, we’re really excited to have them perform and bring some of the Madeiran culture over.”

Founded in 1948, the Grupo Folclórico da Camacha has represented Madeira all over Portugal, across Europe, in North and South America, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

Abreu said the Camacha group will be here for what is known among Madeirans as the Day of the Greens – the Sunday prior to the beginning of the feast, when volunteers go to Gooseberry Island to cut bayberry greens to decorate the arches that lead into the feast grounds – and return home the day after the feast comes to an end.

During the celebration, they will perform daily at 8 p.m. on the main stage.

“This is not to replace our club’s folklore group,” Abreu said. “The plan is to have both of them perform.”

The Clube Madeirense S.S. Sacramento Folklore Group has not officially performed since the Covid pandemic hit.

“Our group is working very hard in order to get ready,” Abreu said. “They have enough dancers and they’re trying to work on the musicians. I’m 80 percent sure they’re going to be ready this year. It’s looking good.”

Feast to feature lots of Portuguese entertainment

Abreu said this year’s feast committee is committed to bringing in tons of Portuguese entertainment.

“In past years, it was like maybe 30 percent Portuguese bands and 70 percent American,” he said. “We changed that this year. We’re about 70 percent Portuguese bands and 30 percent American because we feel it’s the Portuguese feast and this is what we should be highlighting. We’re really excited about that.”

The headliners for Thursday and Friday are yet to be announced, but they will not be Portuguese, according to Abreu. On those nights, two local Portuguese-American bands will perform on stage 2: Edge on Thursday and Nadia & Karma on Friday.

Azorean born singer Nélia will take the main stage on Saturday night with her Portuguese/Latin fused music, while New-Bedford based BandFaith will be the headliner on Sunday.

Located at the bottom of the feast grounds, the Museum of Madeiran Heritage will feature traditional fado music daily.

What else will be new at the 2024 Feast of the Blessed Sacrament?

Abreu said this year’s feast committee is also working on introducing new foods to the feast.

“We’re going to try bringing in some new Portuguese food items, like dried favas, crispy corn, and sweet rice with a little twist, where we make fried sweet rice balls… things of that nature. And bring the tremoços [lupini beans] back. Last year, there were no tremoços.”

The feast committee is also considering boosting drink options.

“We’re trying to look at what to bring in, but we’re trying to keep it as Portuguese as possible,” Abreu said.

In order to help alleviate congestion around wristband and ticket booths, the committee has also decided to build five new wristband booths and five new ticket booths. Some of the ticket booths will be credit card operated, Abreu said.

“We are excited because now with the new security barrier, we’re able to sell and promote more on the street - on Madeira Avenue and on Hathaway Street,” Abreu said. “After you get through the security point, we’re going to have a brand new ticket booth, a brand new wristband booth, and we’re going to have a couple of collapsible bars. So, the thought is, as soon as people get in past security, we can get a wristband on them, tickets in their hands, and drinks in their hands.”

Feast-goers can also expect to deal with the more rigid security checks put into place last year.

“Security worked out tremendously well for us,” Abreu said. “It was probably one of the years, where we’ve had almost little to no incidents with security issues.”

For more information about the Feast of the Blessed Sacrament, visit http://feastoftheblessedsacramentcom.ning.com/

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: World-renowned Madeiran folklore group to perform at Madeira Feast