The application of the Festas do Povo of Campo Maior to Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity will be analyzed today during the 16th session of the World Heritage Committee, which runs until next friday, em Colombo no Sri Lanka.
Registered in the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage (INPCI) from 2018, the Festas do Povo is one of about six dozen candidacies, originating on all continents, which will be reviewed today by the World Heritage Committee.
According to the UNESCO website today from 16,30 hours (portuguese time) a virtual press conference will be held to announce new entrants.
It is a manifestation of public popular art, without defined periodicity, which consists of the general mobilization of the community to decorate the streets of the village with paper flowers, which results in the transfiguration of the town of Campo Maior during the days of the festivities, creating a “scenic space that architects and builds a street within the street that projects the ideal city, colorful, in party, open doors and without social distinctions".
Your organization and production, no calendar set, reflects the community's desire to keep this festivity alive., continuing to be actively passed on between generations.: "to evenings, the Campo Maior population begins the preparation of the Festas, in their own homes, or in garages, where they work together. Not last case, there is a visible distinction of tasks: the women, with the children, work in the making of flowers, while the men are dedicated to the construction of structures for the lattice of the streets. In a context of greater formalization, the Grouping of Schools has developed, in the last years, student awareness actions, within the scope of the AEC – Curriculum Enrichment Activity».
Inscription at INPCI and application to UNESCO Heritage, that the Association of People's Festivals of Campo Maior and the Municipality of Campo Maior are great engines, are part of the strategy to safeguard and enhance this event., which provides, among other actions, the creation of the Campo Maior People's Festival Interpretative Center.
candidacy announcement
According to the UNESCO website, today from 16,30 hours (portuguese time) a virtual press conference will be held in https://unesco-org.zoom.us/j/98163476578, entries that will also be announced live through that call.. At the end of the Committee meeting, a communiqué will be published in which all new applications accepted will be announced. (https://es.unesco.org/news/patrimonio-cultural-inmaterial-comite-se-reune-examinar-nuevas-candidaturas-inscripcion).
Teixeira Correia
(journalist)
