Portugal Day Festival in Newark facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Portugal Day Festival
Genre	Cultural
Dates	June 8th, 9th and 10th, Portugal Day
Location(s)	Ferry Street in Newark, New Jersey
Years active	46 years
Founded	1979
Patron(s)	Luís de Camões
Website	[1]

The Portugal Day Festival in Newark, New Jersey is a huge street party! It celebrates the Portuguese people, their language, and their amazing culture. This festival first started in 1979.

Since 2010, the Union of Portuguese American Clubs of New Jersey (UCLANJ) has organized the festival. Before that, the Bernardino Coutinho Foundation organized it. The main street festival usually happens on the weekend closest to June 10. June 10 is the official Portugal Day.

Since 2015, a special non-profit group called Portugal Day Newark has run the festival. This festival is very popular! Over 750,000 people come to Ferry Street in the Ironbound area to enjoy it.

The festival did not happen in 2020 and 2021. In 2022, it was a bit smaller than usual.

Planning the Festival

It takes many months to plan this cultural festival. The organizers invite special guests to be part of the celebration. These guests might be a Grand Marshal or an Honorary Grand Marshal. They are important people who lead the parade.

There are also many fun events before the main weekend. One of these is the Friendship Night Gala. These events bring the Portuguese community together.

Watching the Festival on TV

The exciting events of the festival are often shown on television. You can watch them live or recorded. These broadcasts go to stations in New Jersey. They also go to Portugal and other countries where Portuguese is spoken, like in Africa and South America.

Portugal Day Races

The Portugal Day Races are a fun part of the festival. They happen every year on the Sunday morning of Portugal Day weekend. This is right before the big parade. Runners and walkers, both Portuguese and non-Portuguese, join in. They race through the historic Ironbound section of Newark. It's a great way to celebrate Portuguese-American culture!

The races began in 1979. Manuel Parente started them, and Domingos Cravo directed them for many years. The Lar Dos Leos (which means "Den of Lions") group has always organized these races.

To honor Manuel Parente and Domingos Cravo, some races are named after them. There's the "Cravo Kid Dash" for younger runners. There's also the "Parente Mile." The 5k race is now called the "Jack Casimiro 5k." This is to remember Jack Casimiro, who supported the races for a long time. Today, Carlos Martins is the race director, and Lar Dos Leos still organizes the event.

Parade

On the Sunday of the festival weekend, there is a big parade! Many floats are in the parade. These floats represent different groups from all over the state. Some are Portuguese organizations, and some are not.

Every year, there is an Honorary Grand Marshal and a Grand Marshal. These are important people who lead the parade. Many other special guests also join the parade.

Awards are given out each year. For example, in 2025, Bruna Demetrio was named "Student of the Year." Manny Lopes of Lopes Hardware was named "Business of the Year."