He is talking about the Holy Ghost Festival, which the Coastside’s I.D.E.S. communities observe every May. Pescadero celebrated last weekend; Half Moon Bay will follow suit Friday through Sunday.
The Portuguese Pentecost or Holy Ghost Festival, sometimes erroneously called the “Chamarita” after a dance, recalls circa-16th-century Portuguese Queen Isabella, the famine that blighted her people and the arrival of a ship with food that saved them. The grateful queen took her crown to her church altar.
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This year’s Half Moon Bay Portuguese Pentecost Festival begins Friday, with a carnival on the I.D.E.S. grounds at 735 Main St. in Half Moon Bay. That will run until around 10 p.m., and continues Saturday, Sunday and Monday, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. There is no entry fee, but a small fee for rides.
Also on Friday, a Portuguese band will play at 8 p.m. outside the I.D.E.S. Hall, and the century-old crown kept locked there — made of silver dollars donated by I.D.E.S. members — will be briefly taken out in honor of Queen Isabella.
On Saturday evening, the crown is taken in a solemn procession to Our Lady of the Pillar Church in Half Moon Bay, for a blessing.
Afterward, a dance, open to the public, will be held from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. at the Hall, with live music by Propresso.
The weekend’s highlight is Sunday’s parade, leaving the hall at 10 a.m. for the church. Leading it will be Marshal of the Day John Sanchez and “Big Queen,” Christina Monteiro, carrying the crown and attended by her side maids Malessa Sousa and Amanda Monteiro. Behind her will be “Little Queen” Angie Rodriguez, with side maids Samantha Ballew and Sophie Provencio.
Both Big Queen (usually age 14 to 17) and Little Queen (7 to 13) are selected by I.D.E.S. members who put the girls’ names in a hat. The queens choose their side maids. Other I.D.E.S. communities from outside the area often join the local parade.
It will be followed by the free feast of barbecued beef sandwiches. From 8,000 to 9,000 pounds of beef — the equivalent of 12 to 13 steers — comes from Manteca, and is slow-cooked in huge ovens at the local hall.
After the feast, household and children’s items, plants, clothing and more, all donated by members of the Portuguese community, are auctioned to support the I.D.E.S.
Dancing continues Sunday afternoon, and the auction and carnival will go through Monday.
The event is observed by perhaps 300 members of the roughly 450-member Half Moon Bay I.D.E.S. Society, said Ormonde. Recalling years ago when, he said, the town closed down for the festival, he lamented that younger generations may not understand it.
“Old-timers like me try to keep it going,” he said. “It’s at the roots of my faith, something my mother taught me to believe in.”
For information, call 726-2729.
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