THE HOLY GHOST FESTIVAL

The Holy Ghost Festival, called "festa" in Portuguese, is a 600-year-old Portuguese Catholic tradition, but today's California festa mixes old-world Catholicism with plenty of American flair.  It is similar to the modern-day Rose Parade.  The original festa sprouted from the religious custom of making a promise to the Holy Spirit- a spiritual kind of IOU.  One asks for divine help, under the condition that, when the help comes, one will do something good for the community.

Every year, the Sociedade Divino Espirito Santo de Alvarado (SDES) holds the Portuguese Holy Ghost Festa at SDES of Alvarado in Union City.  They celebrate with a parade and queens, lots and lots of good food, and gift booths. 

Almost every Portuguese-American girl dreams of being queen at her local Holy Ghost festa.  The crown, the crowds, the velvet capes, and of course, the blessing of the Holy Spirit, are enough to awaken any young lady's inner princess.

Pictures of festival "queens" are displayed in the SDES chapel. Hazel Rodrick was the queen in 1926, and Madeline Dutra Soares, in 1931.