music: parade music, singing, children’s voices
In Lisbon, Portugal, the coming of June means music, dancing and an annual festival that literally takes over the entire city. I’m Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet. A seventy year-old street parade is the highlight of Lisbon’s month long party. It’s actually a competition between the city’s nineteen historical boroughs. Each year thousands of citizens volunteer their time to prepare colorful costumes, work out choreography, and compose music for their neighborhood associations. Ana Mantero is in charge of public relations for the Lisbon Festival.
“For the past ten years, they have these contests. And the thing is that you have these boroughs, they have a theme. And everything has to be according to the theme. Their songs, their dresses – everything has to be according to that. And the contests consist of three days in a pavilion where they present their parade, each borough. And then it ends in this huge parade and at the end they know who wins.”
Citizens of each borough work hard all year long to develop a theme and polish their performance. There are some rules though.
“Every parade has to have 24 pairs of people. The band has to have six members. They have to have a godmother and a godfather – and these can be public figures like actors or singers. They have to have the flag of their borough as well. These are strict rules.”
The winning borough gets the most prestige, but when it’s all said and done, spectators and participants alike are happy enough to see the pride that the citizens of Lisbon take in their city and in their districts.
Pulse of the Planet is presented with support provided by the National Science Foundation. I’m Jim Metzner.