By the time the celebrants arrived at the Portuguese American club on Saturday, the soup was hot, the chicken was cooking and the ice-cold drinks were ready.
Chefs Brian Patrick Hall of Oak Bluffs and Dylan Estrella of Edgartown were stirring their inaugural sopa, made with fresh linguica, beef and cabbage.
This weekend the Vineyard celebrates the feast of the Holy Ghost. On Saturday from 5:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. the P.A. Club located at 137 Vineyard avenue in Oak Bluffs hosts the party. DJ Ricky Prime spins the tunes and no one will go home hungry.
On Sunday at 11:30 a.m. the parade begins at the Steamship Ferry in Oak Bluffs and gradually makes its way to the P.A. Club. The party continues until 5 p.m. Food, henna tattoos, games, auction, face painting and music on both days on Sunday after the parade the Bay State Band.
On Wednesday morning, the Portuguese-American (P.A.) Club in Oak Bluffs is nearly unrecognizable: It’s quiet both inside and out, a far cry from the exuberant bustle that will surround the modest building on Vineyard avenue this weekend during the annual Holy Ghost Feast. The only sign that the Feast will take place soon are two small tents standing in the parking lot.
Although it occurs in the summer, the Feast of the Holy Ghost, which took place last weekend at the Portuguese-American Club in Oak Bluffs, transcends the seasons.
With the mercury topping 90, Islanders elsewhere complained about the mugginess, but at the weekend’s annual Feast of the Holy Ghost, the prevailing atmosphere was, as ever, the light spirit of generosity.
The scene at the Portuguese-American Club Saturday night smelled of fresh fried dough, sweet bread, marinated shish-kebabs over the fire, Cacoila (Portuguese stew), and of course, of sopa, the soup that Islanders of all heritages associate so much with this annual celebration of the Feast of the Holy Ghost.
“It takes a lot of people to make it all work,” said longtime coordinator Tricia Bergeron. And a lot of people volunteer, year after year.
