The festivities of the Light of Carnide: A persistent authenticity

Abstract

The Círio of Our Lady of the Cabo, also known as Círio dos Saloios, has been a pilgrimage since the XV century far from the sanctuary at cap Espichel to the far away rural communities of the neighbouring diocese of Lisbon. The Círio of Our Lady of the Cabo is related to the feast of Our Lady of the Light of Carnide, a bordering neighbourhood of Lisbon. The festival, which is held annually in September, culminates in a procession attracting many foreigners to the local. As a popular religiosity phenomenon, it concerns its intangible heritage and asserts an important trace of its cultural identity. Nevertheless, blending the sacred and the profane, it incorporates extrinsic components related to a social, cultural and touristic dimension. Tourism, although offering opportunities to the local development, also presents a challenge to preserve the local authenticity without compromising the dynamics of the inherent hybridity between locals and outsiders. In order to understand the phenomenon and its ambivalences and adjustments, a qualitative study is proposed, comprising a literary revision about the Círio and the local devotion to Our Lady of the Light across times, non-structured interviews with the locals and a participant observation of the festivities since 2015. The research, even being descriptive, is designed as a correlational study, analyzing the impact of tourism in the religious sense of the event. Considering the whole festivities, it is recognizable that, along with the permanency of the ritual and the religious beliefs and behaviors, there are recent additions, renewed or invented practices, presented as consistent traditions, particularly related to the profane features. These results are considered in the frame of a discussion of the local identity and the sense of belonging provided by the festivities and its connections with the local authenticity preservation.