Dubbed the nonna of Italian festivals in São Paulo, the Our Lady of Casaluce festival dates back to 1900. Italian immigrants from the Naples area built a church devoted to Our Lady of Casaluce in Brás, a district in the eastern part of town, and started the celebration featuring a novena and Mass as well as tarantella and Italian food.
The Casaluce Festival, which takes place in April/May, opens an annual cycle of four great Italian festivals in São Paulo which also includes St. Vito, also in Brás (June/July), Our Lady of Achiropita, in Bela Vista, aka Bixiga (August), and San Gennaro, in Mooca (September).
Our Lady of Casaluce
The devotion to Our Lady of Casaluce dates back to the 12th century in the towns of Aversa and Casaluce, not far from Naples, in the Campania region in Italy.
According to the Our Lady of Casaluce website, the church in Brás and the one in Casaluce are the only ones in the world devoted to this manifestation of the Virgin Mary.
Casaluce Festival 2009
In 2009, the Casaluce Festival goes from April 18-May 24, always on the weekends. At least 10,000 people are expected to attend the Casaluce Festival each weekend. The festival opened with a novena from April 15-23.
The 109th edition of the festival, organized by church volunteers with the support of Festa de Rua, will feature a street stage and a cantina next to it, where you can sit at tables and be served by a waiting staff, when you're not too busy dancing to traditional Italian music.
Street stalls will serve pasta, pizza, and typical pastries.
According to a press release, this year's proceeds will be used for the remodeling of the Our Lady of Casaluce Church's community center and for new catechism and meeting rooms.
About Brás
Named for José Braz, the owner of a chácara where a small chapel was built in the beginning of the 18th century, became a Brazilian Little Italy in the late 19th century.
As the site of the Immigrants' Lodge, today the Immigrant Memorial, Brás went from a population of about 6,000 to five times that number in about seven years' time, according to the City of São Paulo. Most newcomers were Italian immigrants who came to Brazil to work on the state's coffee farms, but decided to start a new life in the capital. They opened several factories in Brás
In the second half of the 20th century, another wave of new residents came from the drought-stricken Brazilian Northeast. Many of the migrants who arrived by train at the Roosevelt station helped boost the district's profile as a shopping area.
Casaluce Festival 2009 Schedule
April 28-May 24, 2009
Sat 5p-12a, Sun 5p-11p
Mass: Every Sat and Sun at 5p
Tickets
Access to the street stalls is free.
At the cantina, tickets cost R$20 on Saturdays and R$10 on Sundays (check the daily dollar-real exchange rate).
Admission is free for children 10 and younger accompanied by their parents.
On Saturdays, the ticket includes a pasta dish, an antipasto, a slice of pizza and a drink.
On Sunday, the ticket includes a pasta dish and a drink.
Address
Our Lady of Casaluce Church
Rua Caetano Pinto 608
Brás
São Paulo - SP
