Rain no worry for ‘São João’ festival

Music, dance, handicraft and typical Portuguese and Macanese snacks will fill the São Lázaro neighbourhood this weekend

Despite the rain looming in the weather report, the ‘São João’ (John the Baptist) festival will fill the São Lázaro neighbourhood this weekend with music, dances, handicraft and typical Portuguese and Macanese snacks. The stands will open around 12.30 am but the shows begin later, from 3 to 11 pm.
The event is growing, the Macanese Association (ADM) president Miguel Senna Fernandes, told Macau Daily Times. “We are looking to expand the festival a bit more. Up to now it was focused at the Rua de São Lázaro but we want to reach other adjacent streets,” he says. And next year the goal is to “grow even more.”
According to the ‘Casa de Portugal’ president, Maria Amélia António, the evolution of ‘São João’ will also be felt in the entertainment performances. “We managed to cover most of the afternoon and evening with displays of music and dance,” she told MDT. The exception will be today at 3 pm, when the Catholic bishop D. José Lai will bless the festival in a short religious celebration.
Several groups from D. José da Costa Nunes Kindergarten, Luís Gonzaga Gomes Luso-Chinese Secondary School and the Portuguese School will perform on the event’s stage, along with the folk dancers of the ‘Associação de Danças e Cantares Portuguesa Macau no Coração.’ The music will be in the hands of three local rock bands, Macau’s Elvis and the Macanese traditional band ‘Tuna Macaense’. The ‘Casa de Portugal’ group has also created a show specifically for the festival.
The handicraft stands have been increasing as well, with every passing year, Maria Amélia António said. Macanese and Portuguese snacks, such as pork steaks, grilled sardines and ‘chouriço’ pork sausages, will be available. The kids will have games and for the grown-ups there will be a shuttlecock tournament and a quatrain writing competition.

Opening to local Chinese

After the 1999 sovereignty transfer, ‘São João’ suffered a sharp decline. But since 2007 a group of Portuguese local associations has been breathing life into the event again. One of the priorities has been to get the local Chinese more involved in the festival and Maria Amélia António believes the strategy has been working.
In the last few years the bad weather has disrupted the event, with everything from heavy rain to a typhoon. “It’s starting to look like a tradition,” Miguel Senna Fernandes laughs. “It seems the rain won’t be as bad as in the previous years. I’m sure we won’t have any problems this time,” Maria Amélia António says.
Asides from ADM and ‘Casa de Portugal,’ the ‘São João’ festival is also organized by the pensioners’ association APOMAC, the Macanese association APIM, the Portuguese School and the International Institute of Macau.
During the Portuguese Administration, the day devoted to John The Baptist, June 24, was a public holiday. The legend says that Macau began celebrating ‘São João” after the Dutch invasion of June 24, 1622. John The Baptist is believed to have helped the population against the Dutch, ‘guiding’ a cannon piece shot from the Mount Fortress by a Jesuit priest called Rho. The piece blew up an enemy gunpowder stock, hastening the triumph over the invaders. John the Baptist was later chosen as Macau’s patron saint.