Praia da Vitoria Festa 5 August 2011

5 August was what has almost become a routine Festa day for us. At 1800hrs we went to watch a Tourada a Corda in one of the streets of Praia Vitoria - there is a Tourada somewhere in the town or surrounding villages almost every day of the week-long Festa. Before the first bull is released the street is still full of people
Bull pens ready to release a bull - note cameraman on a specially constructed perch on the electricity/streetlight pole
Five of the bull restrainers


After a short rest on the boat we once more venture out past the large marquees lining the marina
Inside you can enjoy food from different regions of mainland Portugal - they are so popular there are queues every evening
Every thing has a place in the Festa - this time a parade of pet dogs

Then the Marcha Infantil

After this there were several floats and childrens characters












2300 hrs found us once more sitting on the Town Hall steps, this time listening to a concert "Voz da Saudade"
Two guitars, a choir and a keyboard entertained us to local songs about the island while images and video clips of the island and various Festas were projected onto a large screen


Back on the boat and after a welcome cup of tea, put in our earplugs to cut out the raucous sounds of the early hours deafening concert and went to bed at our now usual 0200+hrs. Our daily timetable has been adjusted to the Festa - up late, to bed late - the only way to survive this week!