There’s a reason why the Azoreans call Terceira the “party island.” There is always some celebration, cultural event, or local festivity (even off tourist season).
Carnaval is celebrated in all nine Azores islands (celebrations begin early, four weeks before Mardi Gras week), but things are done differently in Angra do Heroísmo.
According to local folklore, the three days of Carnaval are the best days to speak your mind because no one will take you seriously (and even if they do, they’ll brush it off as a harmless joke). Think of these dates as the small timeframe when you can screw the political correctness.
Terceirenses took it so seriously they made a whole event out of it and created the Danças de Carnaval (Carnival Dances in English). These are stage performances, with local musicians and actors dressed up in intricate costumes, appreciated by the Islanders for their puns, riddles, and satire in verse. It does take a full grasp of Portuguese and of local politics to understand all the jokes, though.
Temperature has not dropped below 12C in Lisboa all of February. It is definitely not “freezing cold.
That is true Mike. We’ve been having an unusually warm February in 2020. And maybe “freezing cold” is an exaggeration on my end 🙂
Sadly, my family has not slaughtered any pig since my grandfather died, so I had not yet had the opportunity to photograph this magnificent event that persists in the Portuguese villages. Until I went to the Traditional Portuguese Carnival in Podence ??
And Happy New Year!
Happy New Year (two years too late). Some villages have discontinued the tradition of pig slaughtering altogether.