Alentejo House
Founded on February 20, 1983.
1130 Dupont Street, Toronto
When it comes to culture, there is always something happening at the Casa do Alentejo – Carlos Sousa.
The Casa do Alentejo of Toronto is one the most dynamic cultural spaces in the city’s Portuguese community. This organization has a large community hall, library, art gallery, and restaurant that offer a range of social, cultural, and educational programs. Many artists from Portugal have visited this organization, including major figures in music and literature. The Alentejo House was the first Portuguese club in Toronto to have a week-long culture festival, which other similar organizations have emulated.
History
The Casa do Alentejo of Toronto was founded in Toronto on February 20, 1983, by Manuel de Brito Fialho, Maria Rosa de Sousa, Daniel Fernandes, and Fransciso de Sousa, and others. Its first location was on Claremont Street. Four years later, the House of Alentejo moved to a new location on Dufferin Street and Dundas St. West, in what was then the heart of Toronto’s Portuguese community. In December 1997, the organization bought its current hall on 1130 Dupont, which was previously Labourers International Union of North America Local 183’s headquarters and training centre. With more than 10,000 sq. metres, which includes a large hall, restaurant, art gallery, library, and office space, this is the largest Portuguese-Canadian community centre in Toronto.
The Casa do Alentejo was the first organization in Toronto’s Portuguese community to launch a Cultural Week festival, in 1984, which other regional organizations have since emulated. During these celebrations, the Casa has showcased a wide range of Alentejan and overall Portuguese music, theatre, gastronomy, visual arts, and other expressions. It has also hosted an impressive list of distinguished guests from Portugal and Canada, including politicians, musicians, authors, and athletes. The Casa also hosts year-long programs, including a choir, theatre group, folk dance troupe, soccer team, martial arts and music classes, Portuguese language school, and after-school program.
Municipal councils in this southern mainland region have supported this organization by covering the traveling costs of artists and dignitaries visiting from Portugal. To celebrate the work that the Casa has done to promote Alentejan culture in Canada, the town of Aljustrel named one of its streets “Rua da Casa do Alentejo de Toronto,” which it unveiled on June 13, 2015.
Hora dos Portugueses
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