SEMAINE DES BALEINIERS

Lajes, south of Pico, celebrates its whalers, a local tradition if ever there was one! These festivities originated in 1882, when a storm hit the island and the whalers tried to return to the port of Lajes, invoking the protection of Our Lady of Lourdes. Today, the festival still includes a religious component dedicated to Notre-Dame de Lourdes, patron saint of fishermen, with a mass and a maritime procession. There are also shows, concerts, sports competitions, traditional regattas, promotion of local products...