A week of fun and celebrations

A week of fun and celebrations

The week-long traditional annual festivities of Festas San Juang and San Pedro is set to get underway at Malacca’s Portuguese Settlement in Ujong Pasir tomorrow.

Besides the usual festivities, organisers of the event are looking at putting up a large TV screen to allow local football fans to catch the FIFA World Cup matches, in particular if Portugal makes it to the later stages of the competition.

Regedor (village headman) Peter Thomas Gomes said preparations were underway at the village which has 1,200 residents to welcome more than 50,000 visitors who are expected to flood the village during the festivities.

“Besides the usual traditional ceremonies and cultural performances by local dance troupes, we are planning to get sponsors to help set up large TV screens to allow visitors to catch the World Cup matches live,” he said at a press conference recently.

The annual celebrations were held at the village to mark the Feast of St. John the Baptist on June 23 and the Feast of St. Peter, the patron saint for fishermen, on June 29.

Besides the boat decoration contest, he said cultural performances, kebaya competitions, live performances by local bands and popular Portuguese-Eurasian singers from Kuala Lumpur, Malacca and Singapore would liven up the festivities.

Apart from the customary Eucharistic Celebration conducted at the village’s community hall tomorrow at 5.30pm to mark the Feast of St. John the Baptist, there will also be the bonfire lighting ceremony with blessed candles adorning homes of residents.

Another Eucharistic Celebration will be conducted at the hall on June 29 (5.30pm) to mark the Feast of St. Peter, followed by the traditional blessing of the decorated fishing boats.

The festivities will be officially declared open by the Malacca Governor Tun Mohd Khalil Yaakob at 9pm on June 26 at the village’s Portuguese Square.

Gomes lamented on the lack of funding from the state and authorities concerned with tourism and heritage, despite the festivities being listed as a state and national level tourist calendar event.

He noted funding for the festivities from the authorities had stopped in 2003 with the organisers having to rely on sponsorships and donations.

Gomes later accepted a RM40,000.00 mock cheque from Calvin Siow, the area sales manager of Guinness Anchor Marketing Sdn. Bhd, the main sponsor.

-News courtesy of The Star-