Day of Portugal comes to the Gates of the City plaza in Fall River this week

Day of Portugal will once again be returning to the Gates of the City plaza in Fall River. The popular event will be taking place at Ponta Delgada Boulevard.

Food, music, entertainment and fun are on tap from June 6th through June 9th.

The event will kick off on Thursday with a Food Tasting Fundraiser. Food from area restaurants will be available at 6:00 p.m. A concert by Wild Nites will follow at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $15.

On Friday the flags are raised at 6:15 p.m. during the opening ceremony of the festival. New Bedford’s Edge Band will bring a mix of yesterday and today’s best Portuguese and American music at 7:30 p.m. with Waterloo Abba Tribute Band set to take the stage at 9:00 p.m. There will be a free after party at 10:30 p.m.

On Saturday, the food court will open at 1 p.m. Many of your favorites will be available from malassadas to chouriço. At 5:00 p.m. there will be performances by Fall River’s Our Lady of Light Band and the Santa Cecilia Band. Canadian rock act Nelz is set to perform at 8:00 p.m. Legendary Pop Band Santamaria takes the stage at 9:30 p.m. An after party with Melo Musik closes out the night at 11:00 p.m.

Sunday the Whale Boat Regatta will take place on the Taunton River at 10:00 p.m. followed by a lecture at the visitors center at Heritage State Park “Whalers on the Taunton River” to be presented by Dr. Pedro Bicudo. There will also be special events for the children. At 1:00 p.m. there is a Kid’s Fair featuring free pony rides, face painting, temporary tattoos, a firetruck and more. At 3:00 p.m. the famous Toe Jam Puppet Band from New Bedford will perform some tunes for the youngsters. Later in the day the Great Escape Band will be playing your favorite Journey hits starting at 7:00 p.m. Olavo Bilac, lead singer of the Portuguese rock band Santos & Pecadores, will take the stage at 8:30 p.m. The Day of Portugal will come to a close with the raffle drawing set for 9:45 p.m.