• This festival will be held on Friday, May 23, with the participation of Galician and Portuguese schools and musical groups from both banks of the Minho.
• The project includes the recording of an audiovisual documentary and the publication of a Galician-Portuguese songbook.
• The initiative has the support of the Santiago de Compostela City Council, the Galician government through the General Secretariat of Galician Language, the Galician Culture Council, and the Provincial Council of A Coruña.
The celebration of Galician Literature Day 2025 is an opportunity to recover the Galician-Portuguese oral heritage, a heritage shared with the Portuguese language, which Ponte…nas onda! has been disseminating and transmitting to new generations.
An example of this outreach work was the recent multi-broadcast on March 26th from nine locations in Galicia and Portugal with which PNO! celebrated its 30th anniversary. This event showcased various activities proposed by schools, focusing on transmitting the traditional songbook to new generations.
In this spirit, the May 23rd festival will bring together music, dance, and tambourine groups from 15 schools in Galicia and Portugal for a Galician-Portuguese festival in Compostela.
FOLIADA AGORA CANTAMOS NÓS !
Popular oral literature and traditional songbooks, which are celebrated this year at the “Día das Letras Galegas” are a heritage shared with Portugal and other Portuguese-speaking countries.
Ponte… nas Ondas!, as a UNESCO consulting NGO on Intangible Cultural Heritage, the only accredited entity in Galicia, aims to make this common songbook known to the new generations of both territories. This task arises from the Recommendation on the Safeguarding of Traditional and Popular Culture, adopted by UNESCO on November 15, 1989. The document states that “traditional and popular oral literature is part of the cultural heritage of humanity and deserves to be recognized, valued, and preserved.” It concludes that “traditional oral literature is recognized as an essential form of popular culture that must be safeguarded as intangible cultural heritage of humanity due to its fundamental role in preserving the identity, history, and values of communities.”
A common heritage that make Galician literature a universal expression that not only the new generations of Galicia and Portugal learn and understand, but also other people from other places sing and dance to the same words.
This “Foliada of Galician-Portuguese Letters” is, therefore, a celebration for students to share a day of celebration with other groups from Galician and Portuguese schools. At the same time, professional musical groups and practitioners of oral tradition will participate in the foliada, ensuring the necessary transmission of their knowledge to those attending.
Centers from all over Galicia and Northern Portugal will attend, with an estimated attendance of 500 young people.
The initiative has the support of the Santiago de Compostela City Council, the Galician government through the General Secretariat of Galician Language, the Galician Culture Council, and the Provincial Council of A Coruña.
Schedule
10.15 h. Presentation and welcome
10.30 h. a 13.20 h. Block 1:
CEIP López Ferreiro. Compostela
IES de Ames
IES Barra. Ponteareas
CEIP Cardenal Quiroga. Compostela
IES Eduardo Pondal. Ponteceso
CEIP Seis do Nadal. Vigo
CEIP Petelos.Mos
Escola Nadir Afonso. Chaves
CEP Altamira. Salceda de Caselas
CEP Carlos Casares. Salvaterra de Miño
13.20 h. a 13.50 h. DE VACAS
13.50 h. a 14.20 h. Food and performance by OS FONDAOS DO PÍNFARO
14.20 h. a 15.20 h. Block 2:
IES de Salvaterra de Miño
Escola Profissional de Celorico de Basto
IES Alexandre Bóveda. Vigo
IES San Clemente. Compostela
CEIP A Ramallosa. Teo
THE GALICIAN-PORTUGUESE SONGS
Ponte…nas onda! promotes the publication of a traditional Galician-Portuguese songbook with a selection of songs common to Galicia and Portugal that have also spread to Portuguese-speaking countries. This songbook, which will highlight the similarities between the songs’ lyrics, will be available in schools in the fall and will also be distributed in Portugal.
