Azorean heritage and island flavours: festivals, traditions and oysters

When the Azoreans arrived on the island

Santa Catarina Island already had people before the Azoreans. The settlement of Nossa Senhora do Desterro was founded around 1673 by the bandeirante Francisco Dias Velho, and in 1738 the Captaincy of Santa Catarina Island was created, with forts to defend the coast. In 1746, by decision of the Overseas Council, Portugal chose to encourage families from the Azores to move, and an edict of 1747 promised an allowance, tools, animals and land.

Settlement proper took place between 1748 and 1756. A text on the Government of the Azores’ Portal da Acorianidade speaks of about 6,000 Azorean settlers and around fifty people from Madeira. Other authors use lower figures, such as about 5,000 people, so treat the total as an order of magnitude.

Where the heritage still shows

From that period came parishes (freguesias) that are now neighbourhoods, such as Trindade, Lagoa da Conceição, Santo Antônio de Lisboa, Rio Vermelho, Canasvieiras and Ribeirão da Ilha, according to the same text. A few places to see that heritage up close:

• Santo Antônio de Lisboa: European settlement began around 1698, with Father Mateus de Leão and twenty couples, but the Azoreans became the majority. The parish was created in 1750, the church dates from the mid-18th century and was listed by the municipality in 1975, and the central core, four blocks, is also protected. Next to the Sobrado do Imperador, where Dom Pedro II stayed in 1845, is the first paved street on the island, paved because of that visit, according to the study.
• Ribeirão da Ilha: a community of descendants of Azoreans from the islands of Terceira, Pico and Faial, according to the architect Eliane Veras da Veiga. The parish took in about 50 couples, and the stone church was consecrated in 1806. The district has a gastronomic route created by municipal law in 2007.
• Sambaqui: next to Santo Antônio de Lisboa, it forms with it one of the most visited gastronomic routes in the city, according to the local press, and there are oyster producers between the two neighbourhoods.
• Lagoa, Canasvieiras and Rio Vermelho: parishes of the period, they keep Divino festivals, and in Lagoa there is a community of bobbin lacemakers.
• Historic centre: the original Desterro. The Divino cycle opens beside the Cathedral: in 2026, on 9 May.

A note from those who study the subject: “Azorean culture”, as we know it today, was also built up during the 20th century. According to the historian Elis Regina Barbosa Angelo, pride in Azorean roots gained strength in the mid-20th century and after the 1970s. That does not diminish the traditions, it only shows that they are always being reinterpreted.

Traditions through the year

• Festa do Divino: it comes from Portugal and is believed to have reached Santa Catarina with the Azoreans in the mid-18th century. Its symbols are the flag, the procession and the crown, and it is Intangible Cultural Heritage of Florianópolis. In 2026 there were 15 community festivals.
• Boi de Mamão: a folk play with characters such as the Bernúncia, the Maricota, the Goat, the Doctor and the Healer, traditionally staged between Christmas and Carnival. It is linked to Azorean culture, but a UFSC article notes there is no record of it in the Azores as it exists here, and that some point to other roots, such as migrants from the Northeast and African influence. The first record in Florianópolis, from 1872, is by José Boiteux.
• Bobbin lace: made with threads attached to bobbins on a pillow, it is regarded as a tradition brought by Azorean women. In Lagoa, tourism still feeds the craft and there are efforts to preserve the technique.
• Cassava flour mills: the Azoreans found cassava flour made by the native peoples and adapted their wooden mills (engenhos) to it. According to Epagri, production grew from 1790. Among the old mills, one, owned by the Andrade family in Santo Antônio de Lisboa, was still making flour in 2013.

Oysters: from fishing alternative to postcard

Santa Catarina is the centre of shellfish farming in Brazil. In April 2026, the state secretary for Fisheries and Aquaculture said the state accounts for 97% of national mollusc output, about 8.7 thousand tonnes a year (oysters and other molluscs), and that Florianópolis, Palhoça, Bombinhas and Governador Celso Ramos hold more than 90% of the activity. Sources from 2008 and 2021 say 95%. The Pacific oyster emerged as an alternative to artisanal fishing in the 1980s and reached scale in the 1990s.

Florianópolis accounted for about two thirds of the total. According to the same study, the capital has about 60 producers: some 10 between Santo Antônio de Lisboa and Sambaqui and some 50 in Ribeirão da Ilha. Many opened restaurants to supplement their income, and the city has been a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy since 2014. Fenaostra, the oyster festival, held its first edition in 1999.

Tainha and the everyday table

The tainha (a mullet) season runs from 1 May to 31 July and involves about 1,500 artisanal fishers, according to city hall (2022 season) and the press (2026). In 2026, the Rota da Tainha covered 26 beaches, including Campeche, Ingleses and Jurerê. The 2026 openings, at Campeche and Moçambique, had a Mass, a blessing of the fishers, a lacemakers’ circle and Boi de Mamão: Azorean tradition appears in the fish calendar.

The city counts the fish in the Tainhômetro: 144,727 in 2022 and 257,069 in 2023 (count up to 31 July), with Lagoinha do Norte, in the north of the island, in first place with 61,189. Fishing follows federal quotas (in 2026, 8,168 tonnes for the South and Southeast, according to the local press), and green and red flags show whether surfing is allowed while the shoals are near. In the kitchen, pirão d’água with fried fish is described as a pairing born of the flour mills and of fishing.

Calendar of festivals and seasons

The dates come from calendars of 2023 to 2026 and change every year. Check with the parish, city hall or the organisers before planning.

How to enjoy it and help look after it

Azorean heritage is alive in the island’s festivals, lace and table. Buying directly from producers and lacemakers, asking where the oyster comes from, and respecting beach rules during the tainha season helps keep this heritage alive.