Feasts

Although various celebrations, mostly religious, take place in Faial throughout the year, it is in the summer time that the most important festive events occur. These are attended by people from all around Faial and not only by those from that particular village, as it happens with the Holy Ghost feasts that happen from Whitsuntide to August. The religious celebrations or functions in devotion to the third person of the Blessed Trinity that take place in the daytime, include a Mass, a procession and a large meal of Holy Ghost soup, roast meat, massa sovada (beaten dough) and arroz doce (sweet rice). At night near the Império, (Holy Ghost chapel), the ladies meet for some conversation, the men drink a beer together, the young ones group in pairs and dance to the rhythm of the rock or pimba music, and the even younger ones spend their parents’ money in the church fete, all this under the coloured lights and flags and the noise of the fire works.
Saint John of Caldeira is the patron saint of Faial and so his memory is marked with a holiday on June 24th and celebrated with a grand feast the night before in Jaime Melo Square, in Flamengos. It is here that, in front of St John Chapel, once surrounded by a dense forest, that a stage is mounted to accommodate the regional pop group that provides the music for the dance. There are food stalls and a church fete between the roadside trees and that area covered with strings of coloured lights, fills up with people from around the island anxious to have fun. A large fire is made and from time to time the bravest ones try to jump over it. At the same time several other fires spread around the fields of the Flamengos Valley. On the following day, the year's longest, families and friends get together in picnics and lunches near this square or close to the border of Caldeira, even if it is densely foggy, as it often happens.
During the rest of the year there are festivities of the patron saints of each parish, like for example the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, in Castelo Branco on August 15, or the feast of Our Lady of Hope in Norte Pequeno on August 16, and so on, the St. Anthony College feast, the scouts and high school students' parties, and the weekly summer concerts organized by Horta's Municipal Council in Infante Square in Horta.

Cuisine

Here the meat and dairy products are of excellent quality, since all the local cattle is raised in the most natural conditions. From the imense sea around come the fresh fish and seafood and, although the numbers are decreasing, this is also applicable to fruit and vegetables grown on the island.
The specialties of Faial that are served in practically ever restaurant include mouthwatering dishes of linguiça (sausage) and inhames (yams), molha de carne (roast meat), delicacies like morcelas and torresmos de vinha-de-alhos that one can only perceive after having tasted, sopas do Espírito Santo (Holy Ghost soup), fish soup, caldeirada (a must try), polvo guisado com vinho (octopus stewed in wine), and accompanied by pão e bolo de milho (corn bread and cake), and massa sovada. Moreover, there is a wide variety of seafood and shellfish available such as lobster, cavaco, deep-water crab and rice of lapas, all extremely well prepared and delicious. There are fine homemade liqueurs of coffee and milk, but the wine comes from Pico.

Handcrafts

Scrimshaw – engraving on whales’ teeth, was an art born of loneliness onboard 19th century whaling ships, and has been an Azorean art since the seventies. In order to produce a scrimshaw work, the first step is to create a surface on which to work. The ridged tooth is sanded smooth and a polish is used to coat the tooth. A layer of India ink is applied and the surface to be engraved is now black. Delicate scratches are made, the needle cutting through the ink, the polish and into the tooth. The scratches then appear white. Ink is applied a second time and this time it enters the unwaxed scratches that form the image. The first coat of black ink is then removed. What remains is the fine, black engraving of the scrimshaw, a unique art form destined to be more valued as additions to the body of work become increasingly rare.
The art form is disappearing because the supply of old teeth, dating from before the ban on whaling, is diminishing. Prices range between 50 and 1250 euros, but if you wish to take a similar though cheaper souvenir, you can also get works with engravings on bones, which are also typical of the islands. The Scrimshaw museum, located in Peter Café Sport, has a permanent exhibition of the best works ever made, making this a visit that you cannot miss.

The works in fig pith consist of miniature sculptures produced from the raw pith extracted from November to February from the interior of the branches of adult fig trees. This is the period when the sap no longer rises, and the inner bark is white and dries within an hour in the sun. To execute this type of work, a variety of tools are used such as lenses, pincers, pocket knives, pins, compasses, rulers and sanders. The extracted fig pith is cut into small and very fine sheets and divided into fragments, which are put together with glue applied by the tip of a pin until the desired form is acquired. The glue used is gum arable that is very pure, and is prepared with water, which rests for two days and is then strained. It must then be kept out of the sunlight which makes it turn yellow.
This type of work in fig pith is still one of the few traditional crafts of Faial today which is regularly practiced. The artifacts in fig pith probably came from the heart of the religious convents known in the city of Horta, that were active between the 16th and 19th centuries. Here, the tranquility would have provided the atmosphere necessary for such persistence and delicacy demanded by the fragility of the material. The pieces presented in the exhibition in the Horta Museum are by Euclides Silveira da Rosa, who was born on Faial Island in 1910 and died in São Paulo in Brazil in 1979. It was this artist who created the greatest variety of forms in this fragile material. He was certainly the most patient, capable craftsman, a technical perfectionist who was unequalled in sculpting fig pith.

Other examples of typical handcrafts made in Faial, are the works using fish scales, the linen embroideries, and the straw hats, which can be found throughout the island. On the ground floor of the Capelinhos Museum, you can not only see an exhibition of such items and learn its history, but also see how they are manufactured live, and buy them as souvenirs.

Capelinhos Museum
Opening Times
Tuesday to Friday: 10:00 – 13:00/14:30 – 17:30
Weekends and holidays: 14:30-17:30
Estrada Regional, Capelinhos

Horta Museum
Opening Times:
Tuesday to Friday: 10:00 – 13:00/14:30 – 17:30
Weekends and holidays: 14:30-17:30
Next to Matriz Church, Horta

Sacred Art Museum
Opening Times:
Tuesday to Friday: 09:30 – 12:00/14:30 – 17:30
Weekends and holidays: 14:00-17:30
São Francisco Church, Horta

Scrimshaw Museum
Opening Times:
Whenever the bar is open.
Peter Café Sport

Centro do Mar (Old Whaling Factory)
Opening Times:
Monday to Friday: 09:00 – 12:00/14:30 – 17:30
Guia Hill, near the beach of Porto Pim