Bay Festivals celebrate connection to the river
The commitment to valuing the bay and Sado was reaffirmed on September 13th by the Mayor, André Martins, at the presentation of the first edition of the Festas da Baía de Setúbal, with events that reinforce the city's connection to the river.
“We have the privilege of being in one of the most beautiful bays in the world, which is surrounded by two protected areas of great importance, the Sado Estuary Natural Reserve and the Arrábida Natural Park. It is a central issue for us to continue to appreciate and value this heritage”, stated André Martins at a press conference held at Casa da Baía, to present the event, which takes place from the 21st to the 30th of September, on the city's riverfront.
For the mayor, the Sado river and the bay constitute “one of Setúbal’s greatest assets”, both as a natural resource and at an economic level due to fishing activity and for hosting a commercial port that is “a development center for the region and a reference a Nacional level".
Taking into account the role that the bay and the river play in Setúbal's identity, the City Council decided to transform the Sea Week, held since 2014 with the involvement of the Administration of the Ports of Setúbal and Sesimbra and Aporvela, into a new event with a program wider and more diverse.
“We appreciated the event and understood that we could go a little further. The city’s relationship with the river, the port, nautical, traditions and maritime heritage makes it possible and desirable to carry out a more ambitious program.”
The Setúbal Bay Festivals, organized in a partnership between the City Council, APSS and Aporvela, with the support of the Navy and the Regional Tourism Entity of the Lisbon Region, include activities that “focus on the appreciation of the typical vessels of the Sado River and the traditions maritime areas of Setúbal, promoting the involvement of the population and those who visit the city”.
André Martins wants to make the Setúbal Bay Festival a “national reference”, with a program that “increasingly reflects nautical traditions, the history of fishermen and Setúbal’s connection to the river and the bay”.
In addition to visits to emblematic Portuguese vessels from Marinha and Aporvela, as well as, for the first time in Setúbal, the Spanish galleon Pascual Flores, the first edition of the event offers a “vast program that focuses on traditional gastronomy associated with the region’s wines”, various animations, exhibitions, concerts, live painting sessions and sporting, tourist and leisure activities.
There are more than five dozen initiatives for the whole family, in various spaces and facilities in the city, especially on the riverfront and in Largo José Afonso, with the aim of “promoting Setúbal and its privileged natural conditions, as well as the port” that This year celebrates one hundred years of existence.
“The celebrations of the centenary of the port of Setúbal are highlighted in the program, with a set of initiatives that demonstrate the historical evolution of the economic potential of this equipment for the region and the country.”
The president of the APSS Board of Directors, Carlos Correia, highlighted the “reinforced ambition” of the organizers, “in a very special year for the port of Setúbal”, which celebrates 100 years, and which demonstrates, once again, “the relationship of existing exemplary partnership with the City Council”.
The official stressed that “the economic development of the city and the region is at the center of the strategy for the port”, which “is working to be a hub of dynamization and job creation”, maintaining the “healthy relationship between port activity and nautical and maritime-tourist activities”.
It is all this work “for the development and well-being of the region” that APSS wants to make known in the new event, which “values the best that Setúbal has to offer”.
Another partner in organizing the Festas da Baía de Setúbal, Aporvela, brings to Setúbal the caravel Vera Cruz, which will be open to public visits, and a set of initiatives that aim to “promote sea literacy”, highlighted the vice-president of the association, Margarida Almodovar.
In addition to the caravel Vera Cruz da Aporvela, the sailing ships Sagres, Polar and Zarco, from the Portuguese Navy, and the Spanish galleon Pascual Flores will be open to visits from schools and the general public at Pier 2 of the port.
The Portuguese vessels can be visited on the 21st, from 14pm to 00pm, between the 17nd and 00th, from 22am to 30pm, while the Pascual Flores galleon receives visits between the 10th and 00th of September, at the same time. Visits are interrupted on September 17th, the day on which a nautical parade takes place at 00 am.
The Setúbal Bay Festivities begin on September 21st with the “Invest, Innovate and Decarbonize Forum – port-city connection”, starting at 09am at the Luísa Todi Municipal Forum.
The opening day also features a concert by Banda da Armada, at 21:30 pm in the same space, in partnership with the Portuguese Navy. The concert is free, but it is necessary to collect invitations at the Luísa Todi Municipal Forum box office, with a maximum of two per person.
Music returns on the second day of the event with a concert by Portuguese singer Ana Bacalhau, at 22pm, at Doca dos Pescadores.
One of the highlights of the Festas da Baía de Setúbal 2023 is the gastronomic exhibition “Setúbal no Largo”, in Largo José Afonso, with the participation of fishermen and oyster associations, with live showcooking by chefs from Setubal's restaurants.
Wines from the peninsula and sea cuisine are available in five restaurants participating in the event, which features musical entertainment with O Homem na Lua, 23, Cadita, 24, Banda World Music, 25, Cante Alentejano, 26, Folk Sado , 28, Dixit Band, 29, and Jorge Nice, 30, plus a stand up comedy show, on 27.
The venue is open on the 22nd, 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th and 29th, from 18pm to 00pm, and on the 23rd, 00th and 23th from 24pm to 30pm and from 12pm to 00pm.
A set of exhibitions on the importance of the port of Setúbal and the traditional activities of Sado is another focus of the program, with “100 Years, One Port, One River, One City”, in Largo José Afonso, and “100 Years Navigating History ”, at Cais 2, both visitable daily, from 10:00 am to 23:00 pm, and the street exhibition “Olhar os Pescadores na Baía de Setúbal”, in Praia da Saúde.
Casa da Baía hosts the exhibition “The boat builder”, by Júlio Figueiras, with replicas, photos and original diagrams of traditional Sado boats. The exhibition can be visited daily between 10am and 00pm.
In partnership with the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests, there are free one-hour tours on the Sado, with mandatory registration, on traditional and other boats on the 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 28th, 29th and 30th, with departures at 11am and at 00 p.m.
Also in partnership with the ICNF, free guided tours will be held at the Portinho da Arrábida Oceanographic Museum, on the 25th and 27th, between 15:00 pm and 17:00 pm, and awareness-raising and good practices actions, in the Mercado do Livramento auditorium, between 11:00 am and 12:00 pm, about the “Roaze Dolphins”, on the 22nd and 28th, “Protected Areas – Marine Park and Reserve”, on the 26th.
Registration for each of these events must be done on the page Events.
Stargazing, at the Convento de São Paulo, on the 23rd, 24th, at Moinho de Maré da Mourisca, on the 28th and 29th, and on board the caravel Vera Cruz, on the 26th, always from 21pm, is highlighted in the “There Are Stars in the Bay” event, with registration costs 00 euros.
Live boat painting sessions, walking tours and peddy papers, theater and the Lisbon-Setúbal Rally-Cruzeiro, on the last day of the event, departing at 11 am, are activities that make up the Setúbal Bay Festivities 00 program.
