Historic Portuguese festa in California Delta returns for its 133rd year
The historic Portuguese Freeport/Clarksburg Festa is returning for its 133rd edition in the California Delta on Sunday.
It's a tradition rooted in 14th-century mainland Portugal and has deep significance for the local Portuguese community in the delta.
Jim Souza has been attending the event for 67 years. An integral part in keeping the tradition afloat, Souza works as property manager of the historic community hall that's been around since 1907 and is where the event will take place. Around 700 guests are expected to attend the event.
"The fact that all these years that this has happened, it's because of those people that came before us," Souza said.
The Freeport/Clarksburg Festa has served as a place where countless Portuguese immigrants, including generations of Souza's own family, have gathered to meet and support each other. Many Portuguese immigrants became farmers or fishermen, helping contribute to the Central Valley and delta region's farming and dairy industry.
The Freeport/Clarksburg Festa began in 1893. Souza described the event as the community's own "Facebook," where attendees could connect during a time when he said they were "outcasts" in the area.
Maria Fagundes, who moved with her parents across the Atlantic to settle in Stockton, was crowned queen at Stockton's Festa a few years after arriving in California.
"They would feed the people and it was all free," Fagundes said of how the event operated. "And basically the intention is to feed the poor, because that's what Queen Isabella did."
Fagundes' granddaughter, 7th grader Colette Litwin, is now expected to be crowned the Freeport/Clarksburg Festa senior queen.
"Ever since she was little, she's always wanted to do it," Fagundes said. "She dressed herself up when she was about seven years old. She used my old crown and she put a blanket over her head and draped herself and she said she was queen. Little did we know she would end up being queen."
Fagundes' granddaughter will be wearing a replica crown of Portugal's Queen Elizabeth, otherwise known as Queen Isabella.
"It's really nice because I wouldn't really have this opportunity. It's just because of the wonderful team I have here, and I've always wanted to do this since I was little," Litwin said.
The Portuguese Freeport/Clarksburg Festa will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday with a procession from the old hall to St. Joseph's Church for the crowning of the incoming queen. There will also be a queen's fundraising dinner to kick off the festa on Saturday.
