It is not certain how or when this tradition began, but it is known that it started in Horta, Faial. We can imagine that, one day, a crew member of a sailboat anchored in that marina decided to leave a painted memory on the dock wall. The first painting was followed by others, now occupying the entire length of the wall. What was once an uneven and dark surface is now a colorful display of drawings and words, reminding us of the many vessels that have anchored there.

This tradition spread to the ports of the other Azorean islands. A superstition started circulating among the locals, suggesting that ships that did not leave a mark of their presence would suffer serious accidents. Not leaving their luck to chance, sailors and helmsmen began to sketch drawings and words as references to their vessels and voyages, thus creating a giant mosaic of mural paintings made by several crews, over decades, across several ports of the archipelago. 

With the creative focus on developing a unique image capable of communicating the festival and its territory, the visuals of Tremor 2025 once again approaches local culture, proposing to reinterpret the Myth of the Paintings on the Walls of the Azorean Ports. By inviting Azorean artist Sara Azad, the festival proposes a new set of symbols, images, and memories – elements that metaphorically represent journeys to Tremor, on imaginary boats with fictional crews, a dialogue between the traditional and the modern, the normal and the strange.