Festa to draw large crowd Sunday in Orland

A gathering of 2,500 to 3,000 people is expected Sunday to celebrate the 67th Annual Portuguese Festa at the Glenn County Fairgrounds in Orland.

The event is sponsored by the Orland Holy Ghost Club and is a hit with people of Portuguese descent who come from near and far to observe a Father’s Day tradition.

There will be queens, music, dancing and food throughout the day, making it a festive occasion

A traditonal meal of roast beef, potato salad and Soupas, a bread dish soaked in beef broth and cabbage, will be served from noon to 2:30 p.m. and again from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Whitsett-Cook Building.

Payment is by donation, according to Holy Ghost Club President Mario Martins. “We take donations but nothing is expected,” he said.

Guests usually start lining up at 11 a.m. following the 10 a.m. Mass at St. Dominic’s Catholic Church in Orland, Martins said.

A father-daughter dance with the two Festa queens and their sidemaids normally begins after 2 p.m. and is held again later in the evening, he said. Queens from the Chico and Princeton Festas also will attend.

There is a big queen and a little queen named for the event along with two sidemaids for each queen’s court, Martins said.

The girls do not actually compete for the titles. “They are selected at random with their names pulled from a hat,” Martins said.

As for the Festa, it is a tradition dating back to the late 1200s to mid-1300s when Queen Isabella of Portugal called for a Festa or festival to give thanks for the end of a famine.

Ships had blown off course during a storm into the harbor loaded with food, the legend said, and the queen felt this was a sign from the “Holy Spirit.”

She placed her crown on the head of a poor girl and declared a day of celebration that is obeserved each year by Portuguese people throughout the world.

The Orland Festa  is where many people meet up and celebrate Father’s Day, he said. They come from all around California and even other states to visit family and friends in the area.

Glenn County has a large number of  residents with Portuguese ancestry, and Martins said many celebrate Old World customs such as this to maintain their heritage.

The Orland Holy Ghost Club works on this project year-round and meets monthly to plan each Festa, he said.

Money raised by the club goes to charitable donations like scholarships, church programs at St. Dominic’s and St. Monica’s Catholic churches in Orland and Willows, Sober Grad Night parties and the Giving Tree in Orland.

All told, Martins said the club donated nearly $8,000 to these causes last year.

Another Portuguese Festa is scheduled in Princeton at the Portuguese on June 28, and people likely will attend it from all over the state as well.