Margarida Pereira, a 15-year-old from Vieira do Minho, participated for the first time in the concertina parade at the Feiras Novas in Ponte de Lima, one of the highlights of the opening of this pilgrimage festival. Amid the noise of the concertinas, the castanets and the voices that filled the streets of the historic center, the young woman played without seeming intimidated by the crowd, describing the atmosphere as "a cool chaos, effusive, that makes you want to play more and more."
Among hundreds of players, Margarida is one of the few young women to be heard. The young woman acknowledges that the field continues to be dominated by men and says there are still very few women. Her provocation was clear: "To have more women in concertinas, there need to be fewer men who think they're the greatest."
Margarida's connection to the instrument began about three years ago, after spending her childhood watching her uncle play. That experience inspired her and, years later, she enrolled in a school to learn. Today she practices about an hour and a half a day and assures that she likes playing "everything," emphasizing that "playing concertina is the only thing I really like to do."
On the opening night of the Feiras Novas, the parade also brought together many other young players, something Margarida considers "great." The young woman believes that seeing so many people her age playing is a sign that traditions are valued and won't be lost so easily.
