|
Nossa Senhora Aparecida
|
When:
|
3 - 12 Oct 2008 (annual)
|
|
Where:
|
Brazil
|
This festival in Aparecido do Norte celebrates the patron saint of Afro-Brazilians, Nossa Senhora Aparecida, and it is a public holiday all over Brazil.
People flock from all over the country to pay homage to the saint in Aparecida. Her statue was found by a group of fishermen nearby in the River Paraiba in 1717. Charged with bringing lunch for the governor, they threw their nets into the water and retrieved the body of the statue, then the head, at which point fish began jumping out of the water and into their nets.
What started out as a small homage by one of the fisherman to the saint expanded so much that by 1955 a new basilica (Basilica Nova) had to be built in the town to accommodate the crowds.
|