Angra do Heroísmo’s Sanjoaninas celebrations commemorate 500 years since the birth of Camões.

The Sanjoaninas festivities, which kick off on Friday in Angra do Heroísmo, in the Azores, bring the celebrations of the 500th anniversary of Camões’ birth to the streets and return the great national poet to the people.

“Camões was born of the people and the Sanjoaninas return Camões to the people,” linguist Luiz Fagundes Duarte, author of the text justifying the theme of the Sanjoaninas 2025.

Starting this Friday, June 20th, and for 10 days, the city of Angra do Heroísmo, on the island of Terceira, celebrates São João with parades, popular marches, music, gastronomy, sport, handicrafts, and bullfighting, among other activities.

This year’s festivities celebrate the 500th anniversary of the birth of Luís de Camões and are part of the national program of Camões celebrations.

“Bringing ‘Os Lusíadas’ and ‘Ilha dos Amores’ to the Sanjoaninas is extremely important on a national level, because it’s the first time that the great national poet has been brought to the street, to the people, to whom he belonged,” said Luiz Fagundes Duarte.

For the linguist, a native of the island of Terceira and former Regional Secretary of Education for the Azores, Camões should not only be celebrated in the official ceremonies of June 10th.

“It’s not enough for universities, the national library and institutions to hold congresses and conferences for scholars, it’s important to bring Camões to the streets,” he said.

In Angra do Heroísmo, Camões’ poetry, which represents “the national soul” and “all the knowledge that existed at that time,” will be reflected in the opening parade and the São João marches, as thousands of people fill the city’s streets.

The festivities focus above all on “Ilha dos Amores”, described in cantos IX and X of “Os Lusíadas” as a paradise island, created by the goddess Venus to reward the Portuguese navigators who had discovered new seas.

Although this island was imagined by Camões, it is possible that the poet was inspired by the places he passed through and it is almost certain that he passed by Terceira Island, an obligatory stopping point for ships crossing the Atlantic between the 15th and 19th centuries.

“Is Terceira the ‘Island of Love’? Of course it isn’t. But it could be, because Camões, when he created his fiction, naturally based it on his experience, on the journeys he had made and he passed through Terceira,” said Luiz Fagundes Duarte.

“When he describes the ‘Ilha dos Amores’, a green island, with birds, with running water, we imagine a leafy island and Terceira has these characteristics,” he added.

Throughout the year, but particularly during the Sanjoaninas, Terceira is “the island of celebration, of good cheer, where people are able to spend an entire evening in the street chatting”.

“If Camões were to pass through Terceira this year during the Sanjoaninas, he would feel right at home,” joked Luiz Fagundes Duarte.

The week of the festivities is one of the busiest times of year for Terceira, and this year will be no exception.

“Hotel occupancy rates are over 90%. The idea we have is that demand has been growing, which is a very positive aspect and a sign that the Sanjoaninas continue to attract a lot of people,” Guido Teles, vice-president of Angra do Heroísmo Câmara, told Lusa.

Among the visitors are emigrants from the United States and Canada, who choose this time of year to return home. There are also many organized groups from other islands and regions of the country.

From California and the East Coast of the United States come a marching band, a forró group, a folklore group, and two popular marches.

“The Sanjoaninas are already characterized by a strong presence of emigrants, but we’ve been making this commitment over the years to invite groups from our emigrant communities. All of this has contributed to an increase in the number of people coming to the island from our communities at this time,” said Guido Teles.

Among those arriving from the United States to participate in the festivities are also Lusodescendants who come to get to know the land where their parents and grandparents were born.

“The fact that these new generations, who no longer have a direct connection to the island, have the opportunity to come to the festivities means that this connection to the island is maintained and that they gain this desire to maintain these ties for the future,” said the mayor.

Until June 28, Angra do Heroísmo is celebrating, with musical shows every day, divided into four stages.

There are more than 70 food stalls dotted around the city. On the night of São João and the following night, 35 adult and eight children’s popular marches will parade through the main streets.

From Açores9, Paulo Melo, director