02 July 2008
The Cape Verdean Island is bubbling with excitement this week with the festivities for Santa Isabel now underway.
Santa Isabel is the Patron Saint of Boa Vista and the annual event sees visitors from other parts of the archipelago and from abroad flock to the island at this time of the year to attend concerts of local vocal talents, sports tournaments, Miss Bubista beauty pageant and various cultural and artistic exhibitions.
This year, the Holland-based Cape Verdean pop group Livity will also take part in the festivities with performances planned this weekend, A Semana has reported.
Most of the events are taking place in the town of Sal Rei, situated in the north-western part of Boa Vista, meaning "beautiful view" in Portuguese.
Boa Vista is also one of the largest turtle breeding grounds in the world around this time of the year for loggerhead, hawksbill, leatherback and green turtles.
The island is accessible directly from London Gatwick and Manchester with Cape Verdean airline TACV and is only a three-hour boat ride from Sal Island.