Lubango – Over 250,000 people visited the Senhora do Monte Tourist and Sports Complex during the 122nd edition of the Traditional Festivals of the patron saint of Lubango, which ended on Sunday with the “200 Km of Huíla”, the organization revealed on Monday.
Speaking to ANGOP, the chairman of the Festivities Committee, Paulo Gaspar, considered the participation of national and foreign tourists in the activities carried out positive, as well as the fulfilment of 85 percent of the scheduled activities.
He highlighted Expo-Huíla, the Livestock Fair, the Miss Huíla 2024 contest, the Paulo Flores show, Moda Mwila and the 200 kms of Huíla as the highlight events. The budgetary constraint, according to the Grêmio fan, was the main constraint, as of the forecast of 105 million kwanzas, only 43 million were raised.
In general, he said, the Nossa Senhora do Monte festivities reached
85 percent of the scheduled events, some had to be canceled due to budget problems.
For 2025, Paulo Gaspar hopes to mobilize a budget that is capable of supporting the costs of the event that is 122 years old, based on a diagnosis that is already underway, given that it coincides with half a century of national independence.
The Nossa Senhora do Monte festivities began to be celebrated in 1901, a replica of those of Madeira, Portugal, the land of the settlers who settled in the region. On August 15, 1902, with the chapel still under construction, the parish priest celebrated the open-air mass on the esplanade, in front of an image of Our Lady of the Conception, taken from the parish.
Once the construction of the chapel was completed, the image of Our Lady of the Mount, acquired in Porto (Portugal), was installed on the altar and blessed on 14 August 1903 by Father José Martins, representing the Bishop of Angola and Congo.
Historical sources indicate that the construction of the chapel was marked by two distinct phases over time, the first of which began with the construction of the original chapel, supervised by the bricklayer Jacinto Rodrigues and the carpenter João da Silva, in 1902.
The first outdoor mass was celebrated on 15 August 1902, while the chapel was still under construction. From the following year (1903), the population of Lubango began to go to the chapel to celebrate the pilgrimage that became traditional, but the works were only completed in 1921. JT/MS/TED/DOJ
