The highlight of the event was the Traditional Parade of Portuguese Masks, held on Sunday afternoon, which attracted thousands of people to the streets of Vale de Ílhavo. Around 300 participants, including masked individuals and musicians, paraded, offering a moment of popular celebration marked by the diversity of traditions and the festive atmosphere.
The first edition of RONCO featured the participation of 22 groups of masks and traditions, from 11 municipalities, with strong representation from communities in Trás-os-Montes and the Center of Portugal. The encounter facilitated an exchange of experiences between territories, highlighting different histories, rituals, and forms of community expression.
The event established itself as a gathering of communities, fostering contact between different ways of preserving and transmitting cultural heritage and the ethnographic richness that remains alive in many Portuguese villages. The Mayor of Ílhavo, Rui Dias, emphasized the importance of linking municipal cultural policy to the valorization of heritage, noting that RONCO demonstrated the capacity of communities to organize ambitious projects and the significance of supporting the associative movement.
Rui Dias also highlighted the strategic importance of the event for Vale de Ílhavo, aiming for its recognition as a center for hosting and dialogue among different communities and identities, reinforcing its status as an Aldeia de Portugal (Village of Portugal).
The initiative is the result of collaboration between the Association “Os Cardadores” of Vale de Ílhavo and the Municipality of Ílhavo, with the support of the Folk Group “O Arrais” in the gastronomic aspect. For Fábio Oliveira, president of the Association “Os Cardadores”, RONCO fulfilled a dream and opens a new chapter for the association, showing that the joint work was worthwhile.
Fábio Oliveira emphasized the encounter's dimension as a space for cultural sharing, where each group brought its history and tradition, with the goal that this first RONCO be the beginning of a growing event.
The gastronomic component included the preparation of Caldo Rico de Vale de Ílhavo by the Folk Group “O Arrais”. At the Gastronomic Fair of the Flavors of Vale de Ílhavo, held on October 4th, over a thousand visitors tasted local specialties.
On October 3rd, the program included the inauguration of the photographic exhibition “Bons Rapazes”, by João Parracho and Pedro Esteves, dedicated to the Cardadores of Vale de Ílhavo, and a mural by Tiago Pinheiro and Sérgio Marques.
The Municipality of Ílhavo believes that the event's success allows for ambitious future editions, consolidating RONCO as a benchmark moment in the valorization of traditional masks, regional ethnography, and popular culture, establishing Vale de Ílhavo as a center for the appreciation of traditional masks.
