June 10 - National Day of Portugal, Camões and the Portuguese Communities

The Day of Portugal, Camões and the Portuguese Communities is a worldwide event celebrated every June 10. It is a national holiday in Portugal that is recognized and celebrated in the immigrant communities scattered about the globe. At this time, the Portuguese commemorate the life of the greatest poet Luis Vaz de Camões and acknowledge the contributions of the overseas, Portuguese communities that have sustained their cultural heritage. The historical migration and settlement of Portuguese immigrants in Massachusetts has had a notable social and cultural impact on the Southcoast communities of New Bedford, Fall River and Taunton.

Nearly two out of every three people in New Bedford and Fall River claim Portuguese ancestry. In Taunton, nearly 20 percent of the population shares Portuguese roots. The Day of Portugal Festival, however, is for everyone. The sponsors of the celebrations throughout Massachusetts showcase and share their language and culture with their American neighbours. The festivals feature artisan craft displays directly from Portugal. You can shuffle to the beat of traditional folklore or rock out to some modern music from all parts of Portugal and the Atlantic islands. The spicy aroma of traditional Portuguese cuisine hangs in the air. Educational demonstrations, book displays and a variety of traditional games provide opportunities for Portuguese descendants and Americans to learn more about the Lusiad culture together. The Fall River festivities commence at the City Gates Plaza on June 5, 6 and 7. The New Bedford celebrations will take place the following weekend in the city's North End on June 12, 13 and 14. The Taunton commemoration will be held on June 13 at the Taunton Green. The events have attracted thousands of individuals from surrounding communities.

Portugal Day , officially "Day of Camões, Portugal, and the Portuguese Communities", marks the date of Luís de Camões' death on June 10, 1580, and is Portugal's National Day. Camões wrote the "Os Lusíadas", Portugal's national epic poem celebrating Portuguese history and achievements. Although it is only officially celebrated in Portugal, Portuguese citizens and also Portuguese immigrants throughout the world celebrate this holiday.

The poem "Os LUSÍADAS" mainly focuses on the 16th century Portuguese explorations, which brought fame and fortune to Portugal. Camões' poem, considered one of the finest and most important works in Portuguese literature, became a symbol for the great feats of the Portuguese nation.

Camões was an adventurer, lost one eye fighting in Ceuta, wrote the Portuguese epic poem Os Lusíadas while traveling, and survived a shipwreck in Cochinchina (present-day Vietnam). According to popular folklore, Camões saved his epic poem by swimming with one arm while keeping the other arm above water.

Although Camões became a symbol for Portugal nationalism, in the year of his death the Spanish king Philip II, known also as Philip I of Portugal, sat on the Portuguese throne. Because Philip was the only heir at the time, Portugal was then ruled by three generations of Spanish kings. Sixty years later, in December 1, 1640, the country regained its independence once again by expelling the Spanish and making John of Bragança, King John IV of Portugal. Spanish kings tried many times to re-establish power over the Portuguese but failed. Since then, because Camões' date of birth is unknown, the date of his death is celebrated as Portugal's national day.

During the authoritarian "Estado Novo regime" in the 20th century, Camões was used as a symbol for the Portuguese nation. In 1944, at the dedication ceremony of the National Stadium, António de Oliveira Salazar referred to 10 June as  the Day of the Portuguese Race. The notion of a Portuguese "race" served his nationalist purposes.Because of that, the June 10th celebrations were officially suspended during the Carnation Revolution in 1974. After 1974, the 10th of June celebrations resumed to include celebrating the Portuguese emigrants living all around the world - Portuguese communities.

A monument built in memory of Luís de Camões stands proudly in one of the busy streets of beautiful Lisbon, the country’s capital city. It immortalizes the character of Portugal’s national poet and is able to aptly represent the person that he was.

                       

                  

Monument in memory of Luís de Camões