Cape Verdean festival brings islands' culture to Onset

By Susan Gould, Standard-Times correspondent

The Cape Verde experience, as lived today on the archipelago, will be re-created through song, dance, arts and cuisine at the annual Cape Verdean Cultural Festival in Onset on Sunday.

Ed Andrade, president of cable TV station Cabo Video, which sponsors the festival, said, "A few years after moving here in 1990, I realized that the Cape Verdean Americans were living in the past, culturally speaking. They were listening to old music and practicing old customs."

His decision to organize a cultural festival was influenced by that fact. "I am committed to familiarizing the Cape Verdean Americans with the culture as it exists today in Cape Verde," he said.

To that end, this well-known and popular celebration will feature traditional Cape Verdean foods, cultural booths, dance groups and music, plus a flea market and kiddie rides. The event takes place 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Onset band shell. Local officials expect over 3,000 people to attend this fifth annual festival.

Five bands -- Tropical Lightning, Kreation, Afrika Show, Ivo's Band and Netinhos Di Vovo -- will provide the entertainment.

"These are all immigrant bands, as opposed to Cape Verdean American bands. Their music is original Cape Verdean music, without the American influence," Mr. Andrade said.

The food will include such popular Cape Verdean specialties as jagacita (rice and beans), manchupa (a corn stew) and pasteis (meat/fish turnovers), as well as Cape Verdean-style fish.

The festival features displays of several cultural artifacts, such as the pano. This is a belt, made from black and white (sometimes blue and white) cloth of different designs made in Cape Verde. "This belt is worn around a woman's waist while she is working to give her psychological support," Mr. Andrade said of the talisman-like accessory.

Contad'oro, meaning "opposite the eye," is another popular item. This round, black, seed-like amulet is marked by white dots that represent the eyes and is worn on a necklace or bracelet. "When one of the dots falls off, it is said that you have been saved from an evil," Mr. Andrade explained.

The festival, which according to Mr. Andrade is a break-even proposition (the bands perform free in exchange for advertising time on Cabo Video's commercial programming), has as its main goal to further the culture of Cape Verde.

"In past years, we have had Cape Verdean visitors from all over the U.S. and even some from Europe," Mr. Andrade said. "It is our hope to be able to bring together Cape Verdean Americans and Cape Verdean immigrants so that they may find and meet new relatives and share their cultural resemblance."

Photo by Mike Couto
The Cape Verdean Cultural Festival will feature a number of music and dance groups, including the band Tropical Lightning, pictured here with event organizers Edward and Lola Andrade, second and third from left. The band members are, from left, Joao Amado, Vava Medina, Romero Garcia and Larry Barros. The festival takes place Sunday around the Onset band shell.