The Rancho Folclórico de Aranhas marked, last Saturday, November 7th, the start of its 90th-anniversary celebrations. The program began with the inauguration of the exhibition “90 Years of the Rancho Folclórico de Aranhas in Photography”, on display at the Municipal Museum.
The morning continued at the Teatro Clube de Penamacor with the session “Conversas Etnográficas” (Ethnographic Conversations), focusing on the current state of the folklore movement in Portugal, featuring José Luís Adriano, coordinator of the Technical Council of the Portuguese Folklore Federation (FFP), and Ilda Vaz, regional technical advisor for the FFP.
In the afternoon, the celebrations took place in the village of Aranhas, where the Largo da Igreja hosted performances by the Grupo de Cavaquinhos de Mata da Rainha, the Grupo de Folklore U Fresno (Spain), and the host, Rancho Folclórico de Aranhas. The day concluded with a community 'magusto' (chestnut roasting) in the same location.
Founded in 1936 by Ruy Martins Ferreira and Margarida Ornelas, with the collaboration of ethnologist Eurico Sales Viana, the Rancho Folclórico de Aranhas has played a significant role in valuing the region's cultural heritage, bringing the name of Aranhas to national and international stages.
The initiative, organized by the Associação Rancho Folclórico de Aranhas with the support of the Município de Penamacor, was attended by the Mayor of Penamacor, José Miguel Oliveira. He expressed his pride in the Rancho and the work developed over 90 years, highlighting its role as a "repository of our collective memory and a guardian of our ancestral customs".
Oliveira also announced that the Municipality is preparing, in conjunction with the Rancho, a catalog of the inaugurated exhibition and another publication dedicated to the history of the group, to "perpetuate in time" these celebrations.
