Editor’s Note: This article was written for Mosaic, an independent journalism training program for high school students who report and photograph stories under the guidance of professional journalists.
Saudade. It’s a word in Portuguese that describes a deep sense of longing, a bittersweet nostalgia for something that’s no longer here.
For many in the Portuguese community of San Jose, it reflects the feeling of missing their home country. But celebrations like Dia de Portugal offer opportunities to reconnect to culture through food, music and celebration.
The Portuguese Heritage Society marked its 28th year hosting San Jose’s Dia de Portugal festival on June 14. The warm afternoon was marked by Portuguese music flowing from the speakers, the smell of pan-fried linguiça and the sight of crowds at Kelley Park.
Visitors check out an exhibit on local Portuguese bands inside the Portuguese Historical Museum during San Jose’s Dia de Portugal festival at Kelley Park on Saturday, June 14, 2025. (Sophie Luo/Mosaic)People from different parts of the community came to participate or spend the day with their families. Brian Flores and Taylor Amarante set up a booth to promote Battle of the Bifanas, an upcoming event they are hosting in August.
“A bifana is a very traditional Portuguese pork sandwich that everybody loves to eat and equally loves to make,” Amarente said. “We’re creating a festival around it with tons of vendors, people selling cultural products and live entertainment.”
The two have participated in local Portuguese community marching bands, religious organizations and nonprofit organizations. Flores said, “It’s an honor to come out here to celebrate our rich culture with our community. It’s a time to get people together, have some food and enjoy the entertainment.”
Goretti Carvalho, who has been displaying her work at the festival for a decade, was one of numerous artists present that day. Her paintings depict aspects of Portuguese culture, which range from rural scenes, relics of the Holy Spirit and bull fighting traditions from the island Terceira in the Azores, where she is from.
“I hope it tells a story to them, because each piece is a piece of me, my soul. I love my culture,” she said.
For others, the day brought them back to their heritage and familial roots. Joe Machado, one of the founders of the Heritage Society, curates exhibits in the Portuguese Museum at History Park and helped plan the festival. About his work, he said, “It’s an homage to my parents. Immigrants come here to make a better life for their kids — my parents did the same thing, and I’m just saying thank you.”
The immigrant experience was a theme reflected in the museum exhibits, which explain how Portuguese first migrated to the San Jose area in the 1910s and 1920s. After a volcanic eruption in the Azores islands in 1957, the U.S. authorized special immigrant visas for those affected.
“This allowed many more Portuguese to come from the Azores Islands. That group then came in the ‘60s,‘70s, and ‘80s, and there was a tremendous new wave of immigration,” Machado said.
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“Our main challenge is having the younger generation take major interest and begin leading the community,” Machado said.
Camila Silva, the manager at Bacalhau Grill, a restaurant and supermarket on Alum Rock Avenue in the heart of San Jose’s Little Portugal, has noticed similar challenges in the neighborhood.
“The kids born here, they don’t want to speak Portuguese anymore,” she said, adding she fears that this may result in a loss of culture. “The Portuguese community used to be huge. I used to have friends in here that are not living here any more. It’s changed a lot. We used to have more Portuguese markets and businesses in the street.”
After the COVID-19 pandemic, with more people shopping online for produce and cultural products, she has noticed fewer people coming into local businesses.
The restaurant and market serve as an anchor in the community that brings people back to their home country.
Silva, who is half Portuguese and half Brazilian, said, “In my language, we have this word called saudade. When people come here, they say that they feel saudade, because the music reminds them of their home country, the color, the food, the smell of the catfish.”
Sophie Luo is a member of the class of 2027 at Irvington High School in Fremont.
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