Communities and popular festivals

Notes from a study on the cultural and identity dimensions of São João de Sobrado

Abstract

This article presents a series of theoretical and empirical reflections on the Festival of São João in Sobrado, a parish in the municipality of Valongo. It is the result of research carried out between 2024 and 2025 as part of the Master’s degree in Sociology at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Porto. 

In the context of cultural and digital globalisation, the sociological approach to local modes of engagement with culture takes on particular relevance, in the link between the territorialisation of identities and the promotion of local development processes. In this qualitative study, characterised by a methodological design involving regular and ongoing engagement with the local area and its key figures, we draw on the testimonies of local actors – representatives of political power, leaders of cultural organisations, performers of the characters and other stakeholders – to understand the social and political representations of culture and the Festival, as well as the role of cultural practices in endogenous development. The most significant conclusions highlight the centrality of tradition in Sobrado and Valongo and the strategies through which the Festival’s protagonists seek to legitimise it as heritage with guarantees of future sustainability. We conclude this reflection with a dilemma: how should we view popular festivals from the perspective of the relationship between culture, tourism and local development?