Portugal Day

Portugal Day (Portuguese: Dia de Portugal)
Monument to Luís de Camões in Lisbon, Portugal (May 2005)
Official name	Dia de Portugal, de Camões e das Comunidades Portuguesas
Observed by	Portugal
Type	National Day
Date	10 June
Related to	Luís de Camões

Portugal Day, officially Portuguese: Dia de Portugal, de Camões e das Comunidades Portuguesas (Day of Portugal, Camões, and the Portuguese Communities), is Portugal's National Day celebrated annually on 10 June.

Although officially observed only in Portugal, Portuguese citizens and emigrants throughout the world celebrate this holiday. The date commemorates the death of national literary icon Luís de Camões on 10 June 1580.

Honoring Camões

Camões wrote Os Lusíadas (usually translated as The Lusiads), Portugal's national epic poem celebrating Portuguese history and achievements. The poem focuses mainly on the 16th-century Portuguese explorations, which brought fame and fortune to the country. The poem, considered one of the finest and most important works in Portuguese literature, became a symbol for the great feats of the Portuguese Empire.

Camões was an adventurer who lost one eye fighting in Ceuta, wrote the poem while traveling, and survived a shipwreck in Cochinchina (then a French colony; a region of present-day Vietnam). According to popular folklore, Camões saved his epic poem by swimming with one arm while keeping the other arm above water. Since his date of birth is unknown, his date of death is celebrated as Portugal's National Day.

Although Camões became a symbol for Portugal nationalism, his death coincided with the Portuguese succession crisis of 1580 that eventually resulted in Philip II of Spain claiming the Portuguese throne. Portugal was then ruled by three generations of Spanish kings during the Iberian Union (1580–1640). On 1 December 1640, the country regained its independence once again by expelling the Spanish during the Portuguese Restoration War and making John of Bragança, King John IV of Portugal.

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 in Oeiras (near Lisbon), Prime Minister of Portugal António de Oliveira Salazar referred to 10 June as Dia da Raça (Day of the Portuguese Race). The notion of a Portuguese "race" served his nationalist purposes.

Portugal Day celebrations were officially suspended during the Carnation Revolution in 1974. Celebrations resumed after 1974 and were expanded to include the Comunidades Portuguesas, Portuguese emigrants and their descendants living in communities all around the world.

Observances

In other countries

Canada

In Toronto, Ontario, over 200,000 Portuguese Canadians celebrate by holding a multitude of events surrounding the 10 June date. The week-long festival culminates with the Portugal Day Parade on Dundas Street, in the area known as Little Portugal. The parade ends near Trinity Bellwoods Park, where concerts, cultural events and various other activities take place. The Portugal Day Parade is Toronto's third-largest street festival.

United Kingdom

In London, England, Portuguese Britons celebrate the holiday annually as part of the UK Day of Portugal events. In 2009, festivities were held on 21 June in Streatham Common Park. In 2010 and 2011, festivities were celebrated on 13 June and 12 June, respectively, in Kennington Park, southeast London, in the area known as Little Portugal.

The 2012 observance was held on 10 June in Kennington Park. The officials and athletes representing Portugal at the 2012 Summer Olympics were based in Little Portugal near Kennington Park, and attended Portugal Day 2012 in Kennington Park.

In 2013 the event will be held on Sunday, 9 June 2013 in Kennington Park as in previous years.

United States

Portuguese Americans celebrate the holiday throughout the country, especially in Portuguese-American neighborhoods.

• In Newark, New Jersey, the Portugal Day Festival in Newark is held on the weekend closest to 10 June. Organized by the Bernardino Coutinho Foundation from 1979 to 2010, since 2011 the festival has been organized by the Union of Portuguese-American Clubs of New Jersey (UCLANJ: União de Clubes Luso-Americanos de New Jersey).

• In Mineola, New York, the Nassau County Portugal Day Celebration is held annually at the Theodore Roosevelt Legislative & Executive Building by the Offices of the County Executive Ed Mangano, Comptroller George Maragos and a dozen Portuguese-American clubs and organizations. In 2013, the event will be held on Monday June 10, 2013 and will feature the Ambassador of Portugal to the United States, Nuno Brito, as the Keynote Speaker. In 2013, Hon. Paul Pereira, Village of Mineola Deputy-Mayor and local philanthropist Rosa Leal will be named Nassau County Portuguese-American Man and Woman of the Year. The event was founded by Gabriel S. Marques, who still serves as the Event Chairman, and is organized by the Nassau County Portuguese Civic Association. In 2012, the first Portuguese-American New York State Senator Jack M. Martins was named "Nassau County Portuguese-American of the Year" and made any honorary chairman of the event.

• In New York City, New York, a celebration of Portugal Day 2012 will be held in Central Park. The event will take place on 17 June and will consist of a five-mile run and kids' races for ages 2 to 12. In addition, a Portuguese festival will be held, including sampling of Portuguese products and performances by Portuguese artists. The event is organized by the Portuguese Circle.

• In Providence, Rhode Island, there is an annual Day of Portugal and Portuguese Heritage event.

• In San Jose, California, the Portuguese Heritage Society of California organizes Dia de Portugal California in the city's History Park, the location of the Portuguese Historical Museum.

See also

• Community of Portuguese Language Countries
• Portuguese Heritage Society (Mineola, New York)
• Public holidays in Portugal

External links

• Day of Portugal site from the President of Portugal
• Day of Portugal in London 2013, England
• Day of Portugal in Rhode Island, United States
• Day of Portugal in California, United States
• Day of Portugal in New York, United States
• Portugal Day Celebration in Nassau County, United States