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.
St. Vito Martyr Street Festival in Brás
The St. Vito Martyr Street Festival (Festa de Rua São Vito Mártir, www.festadesaovito.com.br) is organized by the Church of St. Vito in May/June (May 14-June 19, 2011) and continues the tradition of open-air celebrations started by the old residents of Brás.
The festival has, of course, also kept its religious aspects. In 2011, it opened with veneration of a St. Vito relic - a bone fragment - brought from Pogliano al Mare specially for the occasion.
Another annual St. Vito festival in Brás has kept the original name and year count, but is held indoors only by a separate group - the St. Vito Association. St Vito Festival (Festa São Vito, www.associacaosaovito.com.br/festas.php, weekends May 14-July 3, 2011) is at Rua Polignano a Mare 255.
Family Fun
Photo: Osmir Ferro. Courtesy of Festa de Rua São Vito Mártir.
The St. Vito Martyr Street Festival spreads over two streets, with about 30 stalls selling food and drinks and a play area for children. The whole area is covered.
In the great indoor cantina, a ticket (R$ 40 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 São Vito Mártir.
There's another feel-good side to St. Vito Martyr Street 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 Martyr Street Festival
Photo: Osmir Ferro. Courtesy of Festa de Rua São Vito Mártir.
Ficazzella and fogazza are fried turnovers traditionally sold at St. Vito Martyr Street 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.
Address & Contact Information
Photo: Osmir Ferro. Courtesy of Festa de São Vito Mártir.
St. Vito Martyr Street Festival (Festa de Rua de São Vito Mártir )
Address: Rua Polignano Amare, 51 – Brás – São Paulo - SP
Website: www.festadesaovito.com.br
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. If you're driving, arrive early to find a place in the 200-car parking lot.
Access to the street stalls is free.
