Albertina Teixeira paid the vendor and in return, received a large bag of “canepas,” or green fruits commonly known as Spanish limes.
Then, using her thumb, she opened the small fruit and her 9-year-old daughter, Fabiana, ate it.
“I usually come here for this every year,” said Teixeira, 33, a Brockton mother of four, during the Cape Verdean celebration at Keith Field, adjacent to the Arnone School on Belmont Street.
She was among hundreds of people from the Brockton area, Boston and throughout New England who descended upon the 19th annual festival of the Brockton Cape Verdean Association on Sunday afternoon.
The festival included traditional Cape Verdean music and dance groups performing traditional dances.
This year, the annual festival attracted at least two mayoral candidates – Mayor Linda Balzotti, who is seeking re-election to a third two-year term as mayor, and challenger Bill Carpenter.
Carpenter stumped from a booth set up with several of his signs, while Balzotti greeted several festival participants near a large stage.
Cape Verde is a group of islands west of Africa in the Atlantic Ocean.
Local vendors sold traditional Cape Verdean foods and handbags, sandals, clothing and other items at the festival.
“It’s a good day for the Cape Verdeans to get together and celebrate,” said Mateus Soares, 35, a longtime member of CV Boys, a band that performed on Sunday,Buy Paul's Boutique Grade A Handbags for sale, Custom Fit Stripe Shirt and more. as he sold CDs at a table.wholesale Best Fendi Grade AAA Handbags online store from www.googbusiness.com homepage.
This year, several citizen activists also set up booths, including the power plant opposition organization Stop the Power and “Criolas Contra Cancer,” a group of Cape Verdean women aiming to bring cancer awareness and support to the community.
“Especially in the Cape Verdean community, (cancer is) not talked about,” said Maria Cardoso, 40, of Brockton, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in November. “People hide it. If you’re going through something like this, you need all the support that you can get.”
A few booths over, Joaquin Mendes stood behind a table covered with T-shirts and bumper stickers aiming to tackle another problem within Brockton’s Cape Verdean community: gun violence.
His son, Eliezer Mendes, 22, of Brockton, was shot and killed on Winthrop Street on Sept. 20, 2010.
“It’s a large problem in the city. I had only one son. This is too hard for me,” said Mendes, 56, of Brockton, wearing a T-shirt bearing his slain son’s photograph and the words “Making Brockton a Champion of Peace.”
Last year, Mendes founded the Eliezer Mendes Foundation, which aims to provide financial and emotional support to Cape Verdean families with loved ones who are victims of gun violence. The foundation also tries to help steer young adults away from violence.
Mendes said he meets with the families to help them in their darkest hour.
“I don’t want people to feel the same as me,” he said.
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