The second part of the First Global Forum of Espírito Santo will take place on August 25 and 26 in Fall River, United States, following the first part, which took place in July in Ponta Delgada. How important is this debate and what contribution does it aim to make to the preservation of these festivities?

The Global Forum of the Holy Spirit was created by the Regional Secretariat for Parliamentary Affairs and Communities, through the Regional Directorate for Communities, to promote the most representative and cross-cutting expression of popular culture in the Azores and the Azorean diaspora. It is inspired by the seven international congresses on the Holy Spirit festivals that have been held successively in different locations over the past 17 years: the first in 1999 in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil; the second in 2006 in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; the third in 2008, in Angra do Heroísmo, on the island of Terceira; the fourth in 2010, in San José, California, in the United States of America; the fifth in 2012, again in the Azorean city of Angra do Heroísmo; the sixth in 2014, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; and the seventh in 2016, in Coimbra, Lisbon, and Alenquer, on the Portuguese mainland. Nine years later, this Global Forum of the Holy Spirit innovates with an unprecedented format, taking place over three months (July, August, and September) in three countries (Portugal, the United States, and Brazil), associated with the most comprehensive festivals representing the Azorean devotion to the Holy Spirit: on July 10 and 11, on the island of São Miguel, during the Grandes Festas do Espírito Santo de Ponta Delgada; on August 25 and 26, in the city of Fall River, during the Grandes Festas do Espírito Santo da Nova Inglaterra; and on September 25 and 26, in the city of Florianópolis, during the grand closing celebration of the Ciclo do Divino in Santa Catarina. Bringing together researchers and promoters from different parts of the Azorean diaspora, such as Helder Fonseca Mendes (Portugal), Lélia Nunes (Brazil), Tony Goulart (United States), and Ilda Januário (Canada), the successive sessions will update and deepen academic knowledge and the documentary heritage that underpins and frames the transatlantic celebration of the centuries-old cult of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit festivals continue to be held on all the islands of the archipelago and in emigrant communities, mobilizing thousands of Azoreans. Do you believe they have a secure future? Do they remain faithful to their origins?
The Azorean Holy Spirit festivals, with such a rich past and present, can only have a bright future. This is what we see in the nine islands, 19 municipalities, and 155 parishes, as well as in all the main Azorean communities in the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Bermuda. For example, in the United States, the Great Feasts of the Holy Spirit of New England, which have been held for the last four decades, bring the city of Fall River to a standstill with around 200,000 people this last weekend in August. And on the other side of America, in the scattered Azorean communities of the immense state of California, there are many remarkable festivals in praise of the Holy Spirit. Another example is in Brazil, where Azorean descendants have created and maintain 14 annual festivals in praise of the Holy Spirit on the island of Santa Catarina alone, which constitute the Ciclo do Divino (Divine Cycle) from May to September. All this is in addition to many others, from Rio Grande do Sul to Maranhão, passing through large cities and important communities such as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. In all of them, as in Canada and Bermuda, we find the new generations involved and committed to this celebration representative of the Azorean identity, with differences and similarities relative to their island origin, which we are now investigating and highlighting, but ensuring, after all, that the past has a future.

Why bring the debate to the emigrant communities as well? Is this now one of the main stages for these celebrations, even though they take place outside the Azores?

The popular devotion to the Holy Spirit is intertwined with Azorean migration. It came from mainland Portugal to the Azores with the first settlers almost 600 years ago, and from here it accompanied the successive waves of Azorean emigration to South and North America over the last four centuries. It has remained and continues to be as deeply rooted throughout the archipelago as on the tenth island, where, incidentally, many more Azoreans live than in the Azores themselves. It is, therefore, natural and even inevitable to take the debate on the Holy Spirit to the Azorean diaspora. So that they can understand its origins and foundations, learn about its primary and secondary characteristics, value its present, and ensure its future. At the end of the tripartite organization of the Global Forum of the Holy Spirit, we will gather, translate, and publish the communications presented by the invited researchers and those responsible for the major festivities held in the Azores, the United States, and Brazil, precisely for future reference and collective benefit.

Are the Holy Spirit festivals one of the factors that unite the Azorean emigrant community? Do the second and third generations also feel this connection?

The Holy Spirit festivals are one of the most important factors in uniting the Azorean family scattered around the world, not only between the Region and the Diaspora, but also among the emigrant communities themselves. Just look at the presence of Azorean emigrants at the festivals on the islands and the participation of our cultural agents in the festive posters across the Atlantic. Or the Azoreans who travel between American states and Canadian provinces to experience different festivals with the same sense of togetherness. It is an intergenerational ritual that in North America infects many of the children and grandchildren of Azorean emigrants and that in South America even persists and is strengthened by the centuries-old efforts of ten generations. The popular cult of the Third Person of the Holy Trinity is a hallmark of the Azorean diaspora, which should be celebrated and developed, just like other equally grand and representative manifestations. For this reason, the 2025 Global Forum of the Holy Spirit in the Azores, the United States, and Brazil will be followed by the 2026 Global Forum of the Holy Christ in the Azores, Canada, and Bermuda, thus encompassing the two largest religious traditions and the four largest emigrant communities.

In Diário Insular-José Lourenço-director

PBBI-Fresno State salutes this exciting forum. Outside of the Azores, California is home to the largest number of Holy Ghost Fetas, all with their specificities and adaptations. PBBI was pleased to do a documentary on the festas that can be used in our community and in our educational institutions.

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADE.