Ascension Week has begun in Chamusca, which is, as they say there, the biggest week of the year. And it’s the biggest because there are nine days of celebration, concerts, wild party, crafts, companies and, above all, lots of socializing.
And this year the municipal festival began with the official opening in a renovated space, as a result of the urban regeneration work being carried out, but also because following the formal opening, the Portuguese bullfight took place. This first day, in addition to the other attractions, also features the great concert by Mickael Carreira, “Rock em Stock” and Pica Cebolas, in music, with the traditional bullfighting at 24 hours in a new space and, later, the Closing will be with a DJ.
In the opening session, which featured the raising of flags as usual, Paulo Queimado, president of the Chamusquense municipality, left aside lamentations about accessibility, stressing that it is difficult to attract investments with all the constraints that the municipality has, to aim for a “reinventing of strategies and options” to overcome a problem that still has no solution in sight, even if there is always a large number of announced intentions.
“We have made a lot of changes in the Village. We talk about technical issues, such as infrastructure, but also urban requalification. But they are not limited to urban regeneration”, said the mayor, highlighting a huge investment in education.
And along these lines, he indicated the start of works on the main school, in Chamusca, in an investment of more than 6 million euros that will now have a much-desired financial cushion in terms of the financial area due to the failure to finance the Portugal 2020 program. But Paulo Queimado left the good news of the afternoon: “I won’t be there on Tuesday, I’m going to Lisbon to sign the agreement with the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR). We will have a package of 4 million euros from the PRR.”
And in terms of investments, he highlighted the importance of requalifying the Chamusca Health Center, in a municipality that has a very elderly population.
The mayor of Chamusca also highlighted the role of his municipality in social innovation projects. “We have been one of the territories with the most per-capita investment in social innovation throughout the Regional Development Coordination Commission “CCDR) Alentejo. We have two social innovation incubators operating.”
Paulo Queimado then turned to the fair spaces, which include education, businesses and a new covered area for crafts.
And he didn’t forget that the main stage is “the attraction to bring more people to see the entire fair, the entire village. Then we have the festival stage where all the groups from our municipality will parade.” And when referring to local groups, he highlighted the work of association leaders. “Today we continue with the nonsense, but much more with concerns about social responsibility.”
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Paulo Queimado, president CM Chamusca
To journalists, at the entrance to the bullfight, the president of the Chamber of Chamusca outlined the expectations for this Ascension Week “blessed by the afternoon rain”, but with a forecast of rising temperatures from the weekend onwards, which is always good news for the holidays.
This year the brave festival will have a new “stand”. The Chamber acquired land that is prepared for horses, halters and bulls and which will have bull runs every night. And there is the highlight of Ascension Thursday with the great bullfighting that brings thousands of visitors to the Ribatejo town.
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Paulo Queimado, president CM Chamusca
Present at the opening of Ascensão’24 in Chamusca was the vice-president of the Regional Tourism Entity (ERT) of Alentejo which, a year ago, became more prominent in Ribatejo. Paulo Beato told journalists that the differentiated promotion strategy for Alentejo and Ribatejo has already begun.
The leader said that this party is a showcase that can show what Ribatejo is and the authenticity of this territory.
In July 2023, ERT Alentejo took the decision to separate the territorial marketing of the two regions and this was very evident, this year, at the Lisbon Tourism Exchange with the separation of the two territories, that is, with differentiated promotion. “For the first time, Ribatejo had its marketing autonomy.”
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Paulo Beato, ERT Alentejo and Ribatejo
Note that Ribatejo is “broken” when it comes to tourism. The Médio Tejo belongs to Turismo do Centro and Lezíria do Tejo to Turismo do Alentejo and Ribatejo.
The 9 Days of Ascension concerts
Returning to the big stages Mickael Carreira opens, at 10pm, the main stage of Ascensão, a week after the presentation of his new tour “Vida”, at Coliseu dos Recreios. Next up is Soraia Ramos, on Sunday, May 5th, the international artist on this year’s poster.
The Orquestra Típica Scalabitana takes to the stage on Monday, May 6th, wearing Ribatejo’s characteristic costumes since 1948. It will be followed by Rita Rocha, on Tuesday, May 7th, the 17-year-old Portuguese singer, composer and instrumentalist , who performed to the public in 2021 on The Voice Kids.
Carlão is the guest artist for the eve of Thursday of Ascension, May 8th and the following day, a municipal holiday, a concert full of energy with Romana.
On May 10th, GNR, an unmissable band in the history of Portuguese music, promises an unforgettable show, full of great classics that have spanned generations.
Bárbara Tinoco takes the stage on May 11th. The Portuguese singer and songwriter is one of the most promising young stars on the Portuguese music scene, who has several musical hits including “Antes dela diz que sim”, “Sei Lá”, “Chamada não Atendida” and “Despedida de Solteira” .
The great Chamusquense fado show “Chamusca Cantada” closes (May 12th) the biggest week of culture and tradition in the Chamusquense territory. Fado singers Manuel João Ferreira, João Chora, Rui Tanoeiro and Marisa Ferreira take to the stage, accompanied by the Portuguese guitar, fado guitar, drums and keyboards, for a show where they revisit the most emblematic Chamusquense themes.
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