The Holy Ghost Festa or “Festa do Divino Espírito Santo” has its roots in medieval Aragon, where Queen St. Isabel of Portugal was born. The queen honored the poor in celebration. Oftentimes, it is said that the Queen saved bread from her own table to give to the hungry. Legend has it that the King tried to stop her from mingling with the poor and was once caught hiding something in her cloak. When he demanded that she open her cloak to show the concealed food, she said a prayer and threw open her cloak, instead of bread, red roses tumbled out.
A crown is placed on a native person in the communities, and he or she is escorted through the streets in a procession to the local church where Mass is celebrated. The meal is "sopas", bread and meat in a beef broth which is given out for free, following the tradition of feeding the poor as in Queen St. Isabel's time. The Crown, “Coroa”, consists of three individual pieces, the Scepter, Plate, and Crown. The Scepter is accented with a dove, the symbol of the Holy Spirit whose love was so manifested in Queen Saint Isabel’s life. The Plate serves as a stand for the Crown and represents the people. The Crown has a double significance… first, it represents the supreme dominion of the Holy Spirit, and secondly the royalty of the Queen.
In keeping with traditions our version of the festival started in 1995, with the Portuguese community advising they would like to celebrate the Holy Spirit. A family will host the Holy Spirit at their homes for one week and at the end of the week the Crown, Flag and Sword are then given to the next family. These families place their name in a hat and six names are drawn one by one at the end of the festival that is held in June, the first name pulled will have the first Sunday and then the next the Second… etc.
The week is filled with saying the Rosary and singing, where the Crown, Flag and Sword are displayed, and snacks and drinks are given by the host family. This continues for 6 weeks until the festival, which we hold in St. George’s Square with Mass, Signing, food for sale and in the tradition of Queen Isabel the Committee of the Holy Spirit gives out the soup for free to whoever is at the festival on Sunday. On Sunday evening names are once again pulled to see who will have a Dominga the following year, which opens on Easter Sunday (the first Dominga takes the crown, flag and sword that night and holds it in their home until Easter Sunday) and then the process starts all over again.
Please see the schedule for our festival this year that will be held on Friday June 12th, 13th & 14th, 2026. The display will be in the town hall where there will be baked goods for sale.
Friday June 12th, 2026
8:00-9:00 p.m. Mass @ Stella Maris
9:00 p.m. – Procession to square to bless the room
Saturday June 13th, 2026
7:00 – 7:30 p.m. – Random Music
7:30 – 7:45 p.m. – Caroline Araujo
7:45 – 8:00 p.m. – Sierra DeSousa
8:00 – 8:30 p.m. – Random Music
8:30 – 9:00 p.m. - Foclore Adult
9:00 - 11:00 p.m. – Cesar Russo
Sunday June 14th, 2026
1:30 p.m. – Gather in square St. George’s to setup Procession
2:00 p.m. – Procession leaves square to Stella Maris for Mass
2:30 -4:00p.m. – Mass
4:00-4:45 p.m. - Procession from Stella Maris to Square
5:15-5:30 p.m. – Blessing of the soups
5:30-6:00 p.m. – Filippino Dance Group
6:00-6:15 p.m. - Caroline Araujo
6:15-6:30 p.m. – Sierra DeSousa
6:30-8:30 p.m. – Silvertones
8:30-9:30 p.m. – Cesar Russo
9:30-10:00 p.m. – Domingas
10:00 – 11:00p.m – Cesar Russo
