Save room for Portuguese treats at the annual heritage day celebration

The island's Holy Ghost Society will hold their annual Portuguese Heritage Day on Saturday, Aug. 11, from 11 a.m. to dusk.

This festival continues the ancestral traditions of Portuguese festivals that take place in the Azores, New England, California, Brazil and beyond. Members of the Jamestown Holy Ghost Society have retained a sense of their Portuguese identity and culture and for many years have hosted celebrations to honor their Portuguese American heritage.

The day will begin with a 10 a.m. Mass dedicated to the deceased members of the Holy Ghost Society. The Mass will be at St. Mark Church on Narragansett Avenue. The original Holy Ghost Crown, from Portugal, will be on display at the Holy Ghost Hall for those who want to pay their respects.

At 11 a.m., a large variety of ethnic specialties will be available at the food booths. The menu includes chourico and peppers, Portuguese soup, bifanas (pork tenderloins), cacoulha (marinated pulled-pork sandwiches), favas (beans in sauce), complete dinners that include chourico, potatoes and malassadas (dough boys), and sweet bread. American barbeque standards will also be offered.

Manny Brando, "the Portuguese Entertainer," will be on hand for everyone's musical enjoyment. He will perform songs the Portuguese call a "saudade," a word that can be roughly translated to mean "a sense of sentimentality and nostalgia."

There will be an auction, raffles, face painting and much more.

All proceeds will benefit the Holy Ghost Society Scholarship fund.

The feast is a tradition of the adoration to the Third Person of the Holy Trinity, called the Holy Ghost.