Members of Dona Flâmula – Associação para a Defesa do Património de Torre de Dona Chama, in the parish of Mirandela, invited the MASKS network professors on 15 February to spend a few hours with them and explain their most emblematic festival, A festa de Santo Estêvão.
The feast of St Stephen in Torre de Dona Chama begins on the afternoon of Christmas Day and ends at the close of St Stephen’s Day, organised by four stewards who divide the religious and secular aspects of the celebration. It features two kings (Moorish and Christian) with their retinues, a princess, the madamas and the caretos, all accompanied by traditional music and a large bonfire lit on the eve.
The main day opens with a town crier and a burlesque zingarada in the square, followed by a solemn mass in which the Moorish King and his guard occupy a prominent place. At the end of the mass comes correr a morisca, a mock battle between Moors (with moriscos and caretos) and Christians (stewards and hunters), which always ends with a Christian victory and the burning of the Moorish King’s “castle”. Today, the tradition is understood as a symbolic representation of the struggle between opposing forces, without xenophobic connotations, reinterpreted in a contemporary key.
We were able to share in a commensal gathering attended by members of the association and the President of the Mirandela Municipal Council, Mr Vítor Correia. We would like to thank Associação Dona Flâmula for their hospitality and for the honour of sharing in the pride they feel for their tradition.
