Miranda do Douro will represent Portugal at the XV International Meeting of Anthropological Masks, which takes place on September 4 and 5, in Tricarico, in the Italian region of Basilicata. The Pauliteiros Mirandeses of Palaçoulo and the traditional figures of the Old Woman, the Male Dancer and the Female Dancer, from Vila Chã de Braciosa, will bring to this initiative some of the most emblematic manifestations of the intangible cultural heritage of the Miranda Highlands.
The meeting brings together groups from various countries, associating masked traditions from Europe and Latin America, promoting exchange between communities that keep alive rituals, music, dances and ancestral characters.
The Miranda participation comes in a context of appreciation and safeguarding of these traditions. The ritual dances of the Pauliteiros were inscribed, in 2025, in the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage, while the Municipality is also preparing the safeguarding of ancestral mask-associated rituals linked to the winter solstice.
In Tricarico, Miranda do Douro will thus have the opportunity to internationally showcase a heritage that continues to be lived and transmitted by local communities.
