The parade is a celebration of the leading role played by residents of the tough Riberia Bote neighbourhood of Mindelo in the fight for liberation from the Portuguese. (Which wasn’t obtained until 1975.) In 1974 the neighbourhood fighters successfully created a ‘Zona Libertada’ (free zone). Mixed into the celebration is an honouring of the Mandinka tribes of Senegal and Gambia, from which many of the residents were descended.
To celebrate, people oil their skin and then coat it with black tar. They put on warrior costumes. Drummers start pounding ominous beats. Crowds converge as the parade takes over the streets.
We had been warned that things can get violent at these parades, but also told it was worth going to see. The advice was:
- Wear black clothes or clothes you’d be OK to throw out afterwards.
- Bring NOTHING of value.
- Stay at the back of the parade or watch it from streets big enough to have side viewing options, so you wouldn’t get trapped in the crowd.
We followed all of the advice, although I did bring my cell phone and insisted on using it a tiny bit. Unfortunately, from my height (or lack thereof), I didn’t get any great photos, and I felt too nervous to keep it out long enough to film much video. The precautions seemed overblown, but maybe we were just lucky to be there on a good day. Our clothes were fine, almost everybody seemed happy and festive, including many parents with toddlers on their shoulders.
UPDATE: In Santo Antao they also have the weekly Mandinga parade. In the valley where we were staying everyone would go down to the town of Pombas in their tar-coated skin and warrior costumes, drink and party the night away. Every Sunday. For weeks.
