Festa do Senhor Santo Cristo

The image of the Senhor Santo Cristo dos Milagres is a sixteenth-century figure of Christ, given to nuns of the Esperança convent in Ponta Delgada and kept there ever since, richly dressed in embroidered vestments and jewels accumulated over centuries as offerings. On the fifth Sunday after Easter it is carried through the city in a procession that is the largest religious event in the Azores, drawing Azoreans home from the North American diaspora specifically for it - flights from Boston, Toronto and California fill for the week. The streets are laid with carpets of flowers and coloured material worked overnight, houses hang cloths from their balconies, and the procession takes hours to pass. Around it run several days of masses, illuminations, fireworks, bands and fairground. Ponta Delgada is completely full and accommodation must be booked far ahead.

What you actually see

• The image - a sixteenth-century Christ in embroidered vestments and centuries of jewels.
• The procession - hours of passage through streets carpeted overnight in flowers.
• The diaspora return - Azoreans flying home from North America for the week.
• The scale - the largest religious festival in the archipelago.

When to go

The fifth Sunday after Easter, with events over several days before and after. Two to five days. Book flights and rooms months in advance.

Honest expectations

Flights to São Miguel and accommodation sell out well ahead of this week and prices rise sharply. Crowds along the route are dense. It is devotional, not a spectacle laid on for visitors. Weather in spring is unreliable.

Nearby

The Esperança convent holds the image; Sete Cidades and Lagoa do Fogo are elsewhere on the island.