Wednesday, September 9, 2009

It's That Time of Year Again

The Saint Conrad/Madonna of the Martyrs patron saint's festival is held every year from September 6-9. It is always a mix of the sacred and the profane, so I thought I'd show you a bit of both this year.

The Madonna is carried in a procession (top photo) from her church to the port, where she is greeted by enthusiastic crowds.

Some faces in the crowd...



Once she arrives at the port, she is loaded onto the middle of three fishing boats which have been tied together for the occasion. In the photo below, the boats are awaiting her arrival.

She is then escorted around the port for a few hours by anyone and everyone with a more or less seaworthy vessel. More on that tomorrow...

4 comments:

VP said...

Nice photos, love the details and your descriptions. Very good post!

Tinsie said...

Sounds interesting. I'm already looking forward to the next post!

Stefan Jansson said...

Are all these people religious, or is it more the tradition that makes them all take par in this event?

Saretta said...

Thanks, Tinsie and Poet!

Steffe, it depends. Some people are very religious, some are sort of religious, some just go because it's a tradition, and some just go to get drunk and drive their boats around the harbour like maniacs!