The Belmonte Popular Marches take to the streets on June 16, in an edition with more participants, which has as its theme the homage to seamstresses and tailors, and which aims to invent joy in the village.

The initiative, promoted by the Belmonte em Movimento Association, is being held for the third consecutive year, after a 12-year hiatus, and the head of the organisation, João Santos, said that there has been growing interest from the community and this year there was an obvious huge increase in participation, which led other entities in the municipality in the district of Castelo Branco to join in.

"We believe that this will continue to have this natural evolution. The important thing is, first of all, to continue, in a certain way, to invent joy for our land and make it possible for people to live these moments as their own", stressed João Santos, in statements to the Lusa agency.

The parade starts at 5 pm at the headquarters of the School Group, follows Rua Pedro Álvares Cabral and the presentation of the choreography is scheduled for Praça das Artes. This year, 44 people will participate in the adult march and 37 children in the children's march.

The representative of the organisation said that some interested parties had to be put on a waiting list, to illustrate the growing participation in an event that resurfaced, as a pilot, in 2022, to assess the receptiveness to the marches.

According to João Santos, the work of those involved is voluntary, this year with the novelty of the clothes being made locally, tailored for each participant, and there is a concern not to go beyond what is possible to support. "Having this waiting list means that there is this desire for people to participate, but we thought that this was the ideal number so as not to exceed the possibilities of a non-profit association, which works on the basis of volunteering", the president of the Belmonte em Movimento Association explained to Lusa.

One of the novelties was that the music had its own arrangement and the lyrics were also written for the occasion. This year, in addition to the parade, the two previous days are nights of arraial, to "try to bring added value".

Present in the procession, in cars or marching, those who have more mobility, will be the seniors from the Residential Structure for the Elderly of Belmonte, from the Caria Parish Assistance Centre and from the Imaculado Coração de Maria Parish Social Centre of Colmeal da Torre.

João Santos stressed that this is a moment of inclusion, but also of joy, because all age groups can make their contribution.

The parade also includes two guest marches: CCD Cascais and Marcha do Castelo, from Lisbon, a group "of the most prestigious" and which represents a "landmark moment" for the organisation. "It reveals the evolution of the event itself, which is already able to reach these marches, which accepted the challenge. We are going to party with them and bring a little bit of what they do".

The godparents of the Belmonte Popular Marches are Hugo Adolfo and Joana Machado Madeira.

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