Laois Brazilian Support Association to serve up a treat at annual bake sale
Members of LABRAS at last year's Festa Junina in Portlaoise
THE Laois Brazilian Support Association (LABRAS) has announced that it will host a bake sale on Sunday 8 March, from 1-4pm at Laois Partnership Company in Portlaoise.
The event will include traditional Brazilian food, including coxinha, a variety of cakes, feijoada (Brazilian beef stew) and other homemade treats.
Proceeds from the sale will go towards the group’s annual event, the Festa Junina, which faces reduced public funding.
LABRAS has organised five Festa Junina celebrations, with the 2025 festa welcoming approximately 500 people. This free event featured live music, traditional food and games for children, enjoyed by the Brazilian, Irish and wider migrant community in Laois.
People also travelled from Limerick, Dublin, Cork, Kildare, Naas and many other locations across the country to participate.
LABRAS is a non-profit local community group, founded in 2020. It is led by a dedicated team of volunteers. The group has organised events across Laois that celebrates Brazilian culture, while also encouraging inclusion and community.
LABRAS also runs community projects to promote Brazilian-Portuguese as a heritage language. These include mother and baby meet-ups, Portuguese storytelling sessions at the local library and, in 2025, the launch of the LABRAS Little Library, a free public library consisting of Portuguese language books.
The LABRAS Little Library is based at Laois Partnership Company and is accessible to the entire community.
