The town of Sal Rei is visibly different this week - the streets are more colorful, full of people moving about, of clothing in store windows waiting to be bought, of new faces making the rounds. The hubbub is a sign that Santa Isabel (Saint Elisabeth) festivities and Boa Vista’s municipal day celebrations are about to occur.

The week promises to be a festive one on Boa Vista. Commemorations in honor of the saint and of the island’s municipal day are already under way. The streets of the town of Sal Rei were inundated with colors yesterday, and informal commerce has already taken over the town’s streets, as it does every year.

Traditionally, Praia-based street vendors come to Boa Vista during the festivities to display their products - an opportunity to increase sales, but also to widen the range of products available on Boa Vista in terms of clothing and footwear. In the small, impromptu market set up along Santa Isabel Square, products can be found at prices slightly lower than those normally practiced on the island.

Festivities began last week, with sports tournaments, the release of the book Estudos sobre o Direito Cabo-verdiano e outros estudos jurídicos, by internationally-renowned writer Germano Almeida, an evening of guitar music with Kim Alves, Neneu, Magala and Tuia and various other cultural activities.

Still to come are painting, handicraft and basket exhibitions, the Miss Bubista beauty pageant, and a gala concert of local vocal talents. The main festivities will take place on July 4 and 5, with Holland-based Cape Verdean pop group Livity promising a rousing performance of their hits throughout the years, and, for the more religiously-inclined, a procession and mass in honor of the island’s patron saint.

Source: A Semana