Tulare and Angra do Heroísmo Celebrate 60 Years of Sister City Friendship

Weeklong September celebration will bring Azorean delegation, music, history, education and community events to California’s Central Valley

TULARE, Calif. — Sixty years after Tulare and Angra do Heroísmo first reached across the Atlantic to establish a Sister City relationship, the two communities will come together this September to celebrate six decades of friendship, cultural exchange and shared heritage.

From September 16–22, 2026, Tulare will welcome an official delegation from Angra do Heroísmo, Terceira Island, Azores, led by Mayor Fátima Amorim and including historian and author Professor Assunção Melo and the WAVE Jazz Ensemble. The weeklong commemoration will celebrate a relationship established in 1966—the oldest Sister City partnership between an Azorean municipality and an American city and one of the most enduring Portuguese-American municipal relationships.

More than an anniversary celebration, the visit will provide an opportunity to renew the civic, educational, cultural and personal connections that have sustained the partnership for six decades.

Throughout their stay, members of the Angra delegation will meet with Tulare city officials and community leaders, visit local businesses, cultural organizations, schools, dairies and other institutions, and experience different aspects of the economic, agricultural, educational and cultural life of Tulare and the surrounding Central Valley.

Education will also play an important role in the visit. The delegation will meet with Fresno State administrators, faculty and students, strengthening connections between the university, Tulare and the Azores. Professor Assunção Melo will give a special lecture to Fresno State Portuguese language students, offering them an opportunity to engage directly with the history and culture of the Azores. The delegation will also participate in activities involving Tulare Joint Union High School and other educational partners.

Music will provide another bridge between the two communities. The WAVE Jazz Ensemble, traveling from Angra do Heroísmo, will perform throughout the week, including appearances with students and musicians in Tulare and at Fresno State.

PUBLIC ANNIVERSARY EVENTS

Wednesday, September 16 | 2:00 p.m.
WAVE Jazz Ensemble — Tulare County Fair
Community Stage, Tulare County Fair

The WAVE Jazz Ensemble will bring the music of Angra do Heroísmo to one of the Central Valley’s signature community celebrations.

Thursday, September 17
WAVE Jazz Ensemble & Fresno State Jazz Band
Fresno State
Time and venue to be announced

Musicians from the Azores and California will come together for a special transatlantic musical collaboration.

Friday, September 18
WAVE Jazz Ensemble — Tulare Schools

The ensemble will perform for Tulare high school students, bringing the Sister City celebration directly to a new generation.

Sunday, September 20 | 2:00 p.m.
WORLD PREMIERE — 60th Anniversary Documentary
Tulare Galaxy Theatres

The community is invited to the world premiere of:

Two Countries, One Heart: The Sister Cities of Tulare and Angra

Produced through a collaboration involving Fresno State, the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI), and MCJ, the documentary chronicles the history of the Tulare–Angra relationship from its beginnings in 1966 through six decades of exchanges, friendships, visits and shared experiences.

The film also looks beyond the anniversary itself, preserving the memories of those who built the relationship while considering how its legacy can be carried forward by future generations.

Sunday, September 20 | 5:00 p.m.
An Evening with Angra do Heroísmo
Tulare-Angrense Hall, Bardsley Avenue

The anniversary weekend will continue with an evening celebrating literature, history, music and transatlantic friendship, featuring a book presentation, greetings from Mayor Fátima Amorim, and a special performance by the WAVE Jazz Ensemble.

All public anniversary events are free of charge and open to the community.

The Tulare–Angra Sister City relationship was established in 1966, during an era when generations of Azorean immigrants were making California’s Central Valley their home while maintaining profound connections to the islands they had left behind. Over the ensuing sixty years, the relationship grew beyond an agreement between municipal governments. It became a living bridge connecting families, educators, students, civic leaders, musicians, writers, farmers, businesspeople and community organizations on both sides of the Atlantic.

The 60th anniversary will honor that history while looking toward the future. At its heart is a simple idea that has sustained the relationship since 1966: an ocean need not separate communities; it can also become the space across which they find one another.

The Tulare–Angra Sister City Board of Directors, presided over by Carmen Pinheiro, encourages residents throughout Tulare and the Central Valley—particularly families with connections to the Azores—to participate in the public celebrations and welcome the visiting delegation.

Sixty years after the first bridge was built between Tulare and Angra do Heroísmo, the anniversary offers an opportunity not only to remember those who created it, but to ensure that new generations continue to cross it.

ABOUT THE TULARE–ANGRA SISTER CITY RELATIONSHIP

Established in 1966, the Sister City relationship between Tulare, California, and Angra do Heroísmo, Terceira Island, Azores, has fostered six decades of civic, educational, cultural and community exchange. Rooted in the historic ties between the Azores and California’s Central Valley, the partnership continues to strengthen connections between the two communities while creating opportunities for new generations to participate in a shared transatlantic heritage.