Pride Azores to celebrate 2nd Gay Pride event

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A post by Joe Mendonca

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A second Azores Pride Festival will be held from 25 to 31 August 2013 in Ponta Delgada, after having a successful first gay pride event on the island in 2012, and what is hoped to become an annual event.

More than 2000 people participated in the first-ever Pride Azores event on September 1, 2012, a success considering the islands isolation and hidden attitudes towards LGBT, which are more open on the content of Portugal, the event highlights the Azores are not exempt from having gay residents too.

This years theme is titled "Do not blend into the landscape", encouraging the 20,000 inhabitants to come out and celebrate who they are and stop hiding.

The highlight of the event, the LGBT Pride Parade is scheduled for Saturday, August 31, at 18h, taking the route between the City Gates and the Gates of Sea of Ponta Delgada, the largest city of the Azores  A fairly new area that is used to dock some of the worlds major cruise ships that pass by the picturesque island of São Miguel on cross Atlantic routes.

The Festival, organized by the LGBT Pride Azores, is open to anyone and not limited to individuals of LGBT but also with the participation and collaboration of heterosexual supporters. Details of the week long program are found on the Pride Azores website, with events and schedules throughout the week.

The organization Pride Azores will now continue it´s work on all 9 islands of the Azores, an autonomous region of Portugal, with workshops in schools, libraries, and other special events throughout the year supporting the over 20,000 citizens that are mostly in the closet. The Azores has a population of approximately 250,000, but there are many more Azoreans living in the areas of Toronto, Canada and California, USA, amongst other parts of the world.

The Association aims to support and social integration of the population lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and their families in the Azores, through educational programs, social and cultural. The motto of the Association is to educate, liberate and celebrate.

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Pride Azores
Gay Travel: First Pride Azores

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Azores Tourism Advertising Boost

Is the Azores about to have its moment in the travel world?

The Azores is about to go through a huge European advertising campaign promoting tourism in the region. A footnote in the ad indicates 'construir o futuro', meaning 'building for the future'.

In the last 20 years there have been significant infrastructure development on the the islands with improved roads and highways, along with  a new airport in Ponta Delgada and new routes for its regional airline SATA with direct flights from London, Boston, Toronto, Madrid, Barcelona, Gran Canaria, Brussels, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Nuremberg, Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm,  Helsinki, and code share and routes from Poland and eastern Europe.

The Azores 'Feel Alive' ad and website Visit Azores promotes eco-tourism and natural beauty in the region such as hiking, whale watching, and traditions of the island. It boasts 120 geological sites to explore on the 9 islands isolated in the middle of the Atlantic.

Tourism has always focused on mainland Portugal and offshore island of Madeira, but this indicates a new focus and push for the autonomous region of the Azores.

These islands offer new options for the off-beat traveler who aims to avoid mainstream destinations and explore a part of the world few know about, though it remains a place reserved for outdoor adventure seekers and explorers.

Visit my pages on Azores, São Miguel, Ponta Delgada, and Achada for photos and videos of the region.

The Last Whalers - An Azorean Past

No longer practiced on the islands of the Azores, but whaling was a big industry. A whale's cadaver was processed for lamp oil, candles, medicines, perfume and machinery lubricants. The blubber was melted down for oil and the bones tossed aside.

The first type of whaling done was shore whaling along the New England coast, Native Americans sent their boats out and speared one of the passing whales. This practice was followed by European settlers later. The Dutch controlled whaling during the 17th century. The British followed in the 18th century as the chief whalers, followed later by the Americans in the 19th century.

Whaling crews could be found at the Azores. Captains would disembark from New England with a skeleton crew and head for the Azores or the Cape Verde Islands looking for a supply of sailors. They liked the Portuguese because they were hard working, quiet, and cheap. The Azorean teenage male was waiting to be picked. He was seeking opportunity and a way to the United States, generally because he was fleeing military service.

In the late 1930s more than 50,000 whales were killed annually worldwide. In 1986 the International Whaling Commission banned commercial whaling.

At Cais do Pico, there is a commercial port and an old fishing harbour that played a major part in the historical activity of whale hunting. The Museu da Indústria Baleeira (the Whaling Industry Museum), housed in the old Whaleboat Factory in the town of São Roque, which was in business from 1946 to 1984. This museum was opened in May 1994 and is internationally considered to be one of the best industrial museums of its kind, exhibiting boilers, furnaces, machinery and other equipment used in the exploitation and transformation of whales into oil and flour. It offers you the chance to make an interesting discovery about the ancient practices linked to a now extinct activity.

Below is a vintage film "The Last Whalers" by William Neufeld, 1968. It documents a past way of life on the island of Pico. WARNING! You may find this disturbing to watch.



"The Last Whalers" by William Neufeld. Produced by WBN Productions, 1968. Modern Azorean shore whaling. An edited and sub-titled version is currently on exhibit in the Azorean Whalemen Gallery at the New Bedford Whaling Museum.

Ref:
Azorean and New England Whaling and Fishing
Azores Islands by Robert L. Santos

Village Life in the Azores

It's not often I return the Azores to my home town of Achada in Nordeste, São Miguel. With a population of approximately 600, situated on the northwest coast with stunning ocean views, village life becomes clearer after a few days.

Modest and simple living is the order of the day, live on what you have, waste not. Daily visits by the milk man, bread, fish, fruit, furniture, clothing, even the bank comes to your door. All having their regular routes and time of day in which they pass through the town. Just wait by the door or listen for the individual sound of bells or horns that announce that they are near, delivered and purchased at your front door.

Live off the land, eat what you grow. Share and exchange the fruits of your labour, the gardens riches. Barter services for a meal and entertainment. Look out for one another, family or not.

Festivals that last for a few days, early July celebrates Sao Pedro, with live song and dance in the small street in the town centre. A place to meet other locals and possibly see faces who return to see old family and friends. I am no stranger, all know who I am, word gets out and I'm approached by people who recall the day I once roamed here before.

Tradition means processions and rituals that remain alive, but for how long? The statue of Sao Pedro is carried around the town, down one street and up the other, passing and stopping at the village cathedral, built in 1788, where fishermen join the procession displaying their catch, a fishing nest is held among a group of women, followed by a marching band.

Religion plays a big role, a street mass is held on the Sunday. There is a lottery to see if you'll earn the right to have the saint in your home for a month in the next coming year, 12 lucky recipients.

The things that holds this together is the community. The family and existence of the neighbour and friends that bind together to call this home. A place where the origins of ancestors.

This is my first experience of life in a village, eight days. Not having a routine of work and life where days perhaps pass much quicker, my time of rest and relaxation, full days of searching for a way to pass my time, hikes down to the coastline. It takes time to learn to relax to the life of a village.