Biography

Situated on the ea­st cost of Faial Island, Azores, in an extensive valley, between two big elevations and near 7 Km from the city of Horta, Pedro Miguel is a rural village, full of pastures, forests and cornfields.

It is here, that on the 23rd of June of 1977, the Village Council and the Village Community Center of Pedro Miguel founded the Folklore Group of the Pedro Miguel Village Community Center.
Its origins lie in "Folgas and Chamarritas" that nowadays still happen in the village, similar to the times when those were one of the main social gatherings.
Instruments crafted by a local artisan long ago, used in the gatherings of before, are still in use today.
In order to make the dream of starting a Folklore Group a reality, the Village Council and the Town Community Center obtained the precious contribution of elderly people, who recounted how the Bailhos Velhos were since they participated in some of them.
 

The book Bailhos, Rodas e Cantorias, by Professor Júlio de Andrade, was another source of research, since it made some references to the Pedro Miguel village.
With the will of incorporating more aspects in their presentations, in March of 1994, the Folklore Group became an Ethnographic Group, calling itself Folklore and Ethnographic Group of Pedro Miguel.
Thus, its wardrobe tried to demonstrate, and still does, a little of how the people of Faial Island dressed in the end of the XIX century and the begining of the XX century.
 

It is not only with the music that the Folklore and Ethnographic Group of Pedro Miguel has been distinguished. In recent years, it has come to collect some artifacts and, among its vast collection, is a corn-mill that, currently, is the only one in the village.
And it is this goal of keeping and preserving its customs that makes this Folklore and Ethnographic Group of Pedro Miguel a group admired and respected by many, which we greatly appreciate.


Bem Haja !!!