St. Vito Festival is one of the most important Italian festivals in São Paulo. It is a celebration in honor of Saint Vito, the patron saint of Polignano a Mare, a city in the Puglia region, in Italy. Many Italian immigrants in Brás, a São Paulo district, came from Puglia.
Festa de São Vito is also a time when the Italian community in São Paulo gathers to party and eat traditional food. Other important Italian celebrations in São Paulo are Our Lady of Casaluce, also in Brás (May), Our Lady of Achiropita, in Bela Vista (August), and St. Gennaro, in Mooca (September).
St. Vito Festival - From Italy to Brazil
Italian immigrants from the Puglia region who moved in great numbers to the Brás neighborhood in São Paulo at the end of the 19th century brought along a devotion to Saint Vito, a Christian martyr who was killed in June of 303 a.D.
Just like Polignano a Mare, eventually Brás had a church devoted to St. Vito. An association was formed and hosted the first festival in June 1919.
As São Paulo grew, so did the Italian community and St. Vito Festival. Today, about 6 million of São Paulo's 10,886,518 inhabitants are Italians and descendants (known as "oriundi"), according to statistics provided by Conscre, a São Paulo state council for foreign communities.
An estimated 120,000 people are expected to attend St. Vito Festival in 2009.
Family Fun
Photo: Osmir Ferro. Courtesy of Festa de Rua.
The festival goes from the end of May to mid-July, on Saturdays and Sundays. It spreads over two streets, with about 40 stalls selling food and drinks and a play area for children. The whole area is covered.
In the great indoor cantina, a ticket (R$ 30 on Saturdays, R$ 25 on Sundays) buys a full meal: an antipasto, a ficazzella, (a kind of turnover) and a big serving of pasta, plus a drink.
Guests at the cantina get to sit near the band playing Italian music on the stage. Fred Rovella's band, which includes ten dancers, leads the fun.
A Volunteer Effort
Photo: Osmir Ferro. Courtesy of Festa de Rua.
There's another feel-good side to St. Vito Festival. All the proceedings go to communitarian benefits such as the church's daycare, dental clinic or computer room.
An upbeat, hardworking team of volunteers keeps the festival going. In 2009, 20 people from a local hospital's volunteer corps are helping the St. Vito Church.
Food at St. Vito Festival
Photo: Osmir Ferro. Courtesy of Festa de Rua.
Ficazzella and fogazza are fried turnovers traditionally sold at St. Vito festival.
Make a similar treat at home with this recipe for Isernian Calzoni from Kyle Phillips, About.com Guide to Italian Food.
At the festival, you'll also sample a wide array of antipasti, ghimirelle (a liver kebab), and ficazza, a kind of focaccia (the name used in São Paulo is not to be confused with ficazza di tonno, a salame from Sicily). There are also homemade desserts and Brazilian foods such as broths and açaí.
St. Vito Festival Address & Contact Information
Photo: Osmir Ferro. Courtesy of Festa de Rua.
Festival Address: Rua Polignano Amare, 51 – Brás – São Paulo - SP
To buy tickets in advance, call 55-11-3227-2296 / 11-3228-8114.
Best way to go: Share a taxi from a reliable company (get a recommendation at your hotel) with a group. Arrange a return time with the driver. The Brás subway station is not close by and even though the festival area is crowded, the rest of the neighborhood is not a safe place to walk in at night.
Access to the street stalls is free.
91st St. Vito Festival (2009) Schedule
Photo: Osmir Ferro. Courtesy of Festa de Rua.
Every Saturday and Sunday from May 30-July 12, 2009
Hours: Sat 5p-12a, Sun 5p-11p
This year's funds will be used for a computer lab, ongoing work on a community dental clinic, and a culinary course.
Correction: This article is about the traditional St. Vito Festival, which has taken place in Brás for nearly a century and benefits the St. Vito Church. The St. Vito Association, previously mentioned in this article, resulted from a schism and promotes another party which doesn't benefit the Church.
