Portimão to welcome 4,000 young Christians from around the world
Portimão is preparing to host ‘Welcome to Paradise’, a festival which will bring around 4,000 young Christians from around the world to the Algarve between July 26 and 31.
The festival is part of the ‘Days in the Dioceses’ gatherings leading up to World Youth Day 2023, due to take place in Lisbon from August 1 to 6 with the presence of Pope Francis confirmed.
The Welcome to Paradise headquarters will be at the local fairground ‘Parque de Feiras e Exposições’ and the Portimão Arena, with activities also scheduled at Municipal Theatre TEMPO, Portimão Museum, Matriz Church, Colégio Church, Portimão Gymnasium, Rua António Carmo Provisório Sports Centre, and the Sports Area of Praia da Rocha.
Throughout the week, around 4,000 young students and workers of 74 nationalities and 15 Christian churches, aged between 18 and 30, will be in Portimão to enjoy the vast programme which features workshops, concerts, beach sports, and themed nights.
Delegations from Germany, France, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Guadeloupe, Brazil, Martinique, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Taiwan, Mali, China and many more are expected to attend.
Visitors will be staying at several schools and educational establishments in Portimão, as well as with sixty families which have offered up their homes to welcome the participants.
Welcome to Paradise is an international ecumenical event organized annually since 1993 by the Chemin Neuf Community at the French abbey of Hautecombe, located in the south of France.
Volunteers needed
Organisers are seeking volunteers among the parishioners aged 16 and above in Portimão in order to help with the logistics of the event.
Volunteers’ tasks include support in preparing accommodations and rooms, food distribution, cooking, decoration, translation, first aid, or carpentry, among other activities. They will also have the opportunity to enjoy the festival while being part of an international team and practising other languages.
Young people from Portimão, aged between 18 and 30, who wish to participate in Welcome to Paradise and experience the event, will benefit from special conditions, paying registration fee of €10.
Eclectic programming
Each day of the festival will have a different program, starting with a welcoming event for participants and the opening of the week with a nighttime show at the Portimão Arena, where all participating delegations will be presented.
Some of the highlights of the programme include conferences which will feature prestigious speakers such as Cardinals Tagle and Czerny, as well as several bishops, including French Bishops Olivier Leborgne and Laurent Le Boulc’h, Belgian Bishop Jean Kockerols, Ivorian Bishop Jacques Assanvo Ahiwa, and Bishop Manuel Quintas from the Diocese of Algarve, who will touch upon “topics that will help young people grow.”
The main activities of the festival will be translated into ten languages: Portuguese, English, German, French, Polish, Italian, Czech, Dutch, Flemish, and Latvian.
More information about the festival can be found online.
