CAVALCANTE, Brazil — For three long years, Vandeli Matos was an emperor in waiting. The symbolic coronation of the 33-year-old finally occurred this week when the Kalunga quilombo — as Brazilian communities descended from runaway slaves are known — gathered for the first time since the pandemic began.

It was part of a festival that Kalunga’s 39 far-flung communities hold every August — or had held until the pandemic prevented the annual week of roaring festivities celebrating Our Lady of the Abbey.

Adao das Contendas performs with the flag of the Divine Holy Spirit during the culmination of the week-long pilgrimage and celebration for the patron saint “Nossa Senhora da Abadia” or Our Lady of Abadia, in the rural area of Cavalcante in Goias state, Brazil, Sunday, Aug. 14, 2022. (Credit: Eraldo Peres/AP.)
A member of the Kalunga quilombo, the descendants of runaway slaves, prepares to attend a candlelight procession during the culmination of the week-long pilgrimage and celebration for the patron saint “Nossa Senhora da Abadia” or Our Lady of Abadia, in the rural area of Cavalcante in Goias state, Brazil, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2022. (Credit: Eraldo Peres/AP.)
A family accompanied by musicians walks in procession after a baptism in the chapel of the Kalunga quilombo, during the culmination of the week-long pilgrimage and celebration for the patron saint “Nossa Senhora da Abadia” or Our Lady of Abadia, in the rural area of Cavalcante in Goias state, Brazil, Monday, Aug. 15, 2022. (Credit: Eraldo Peres/AP.)

Thousands of pilgrims from all corners of the vast Kalunga territory flocked to the municipality Cavalcante, some 180 miles north of the capital, Brasilia, for this year’s coronations and other rituals.

Families set up in small wattle and daub houses, inhabited only during the festival. The structures, decorated with balloons, paper flowers and brightly colored fabrics, form a half-moon around the town’s chapel, where religious ceremonies take place.

“We tried to maintain the tradition the way it was,” said Irene Francisca, 55, who is better known as Tuta das Flores, one of the women overseeing this year’s decorations. “When we were born, this party already existed. This way of decorating with flowers was passed on to us by our mothers and grandmothers.”

A girl, member of the Kalunga quilombo, descendants of runaway slaves, attends the coronation of the Emperor of the Holy Spirit, during the culmination of the week-long pilgrimage and celebration for the patron saint “Nossa Senhora da Abadia” or Our Lady of Abadia, in the rural area of Cavalcante in Goias state, Brazil, Sunday, Aug. 14, 2022. (Credit: Eraldo Peres/AP.)
A boy, member of the Kalunga quilombo, a descendant of runaway slaves, prepares the decoration for the coronation of the Emperor of the Holy Spirit, during the culmination of the week-long pilgrimage and celebration for the patron saint “Nossa Senhora da Abadia” or Our Lady of Abadia, in the rural area of Cavalcante in Goias state, Brazil, Sunday, Aug. 14, 2022. (Credit: Eraldo Peres/AP.)
A towel emblazoned with an image of Brazil’s former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is running for reelection, is draped over a tent during the culmination of the week-long pilgrimage and celebration for the patron saint “Nossa Senhora da Abadia” or Our Lady of Abadia, in the rural area of Cavalcante in Goias state, Brazil, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2022. (Credit: Eraldo Peres/AP.)

Kalunga is Brazil’s largest quilombo, spreading across 1,000 square miles (2,600 square kilometers) in the Valley of Souls (Vao de Almas, in Portuguese). Its history began more than two centuries ago, when slaves fled the region’s mills and mining pits and settled in the hard-to-access valleys. Their descendants have occupied the area ever since, with a population now estimated around 10,000 people.

Houses in Kalunga territory are distant from one another, and connected by chewed-up dirt roads only four-wheel-drive vehicles can manage. Each year, Our Lady of the Abbey is the occasion for Kalungas to convene and mingle.

It’s a Catholic celebration of the Virgin Mary, but African slaves — forcibly brought to Brazil and prohibited from worshipping their own deities — embraced the ceremony while integrating some of their own traditions and beliefs from the opposite side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Members of the Kalunga quilombo, who are the descendants of runaway slaves, dance during the culmination of the week-long pilgrimage and celebration for the patron saint “Nossa Senhora da Abadia” or Our Lady of Abadia, in the rural area of Cavalcante in Goias state, Brazil, Monday, Aug. 15, 2022. (Credit: Eraldo Peres/AP.)
Children carry water from the Rio Branco at dawn at the Kalunga quilombo, in the rural area of Cavalcante in Goias state, Brazil, Monday, Aug. 15, 2022. The Kalunga quilombo villager´s ancestors settled there as runaway slaves more than 200 years ago. (Credit: Eraldo Peres/AP.)
A member of the Kalunga quilombo, the descendants of runaway slaves, is framed between racks of beef offered for sale during the culmination of the week-long pilgrimage and celebration for the patron saint “Nossa Senhora da Abadia” or Our Lady of Abadia, in the rural area of Cavalcante in Goias state, Brazil, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2022. (Credit: Eraldo Peres/AP.)
Nilda dos Santos receives her Queen’s crown in the Kalunga quilombo, the descendants of runaway slaves, during the culmination of the week-long pilgrimage and celebration for the patron saint “Nossa Senhora da Abadia” or Our Lady of Abadia, in the rural area of Cavalcante in Goias state, Brazil, Monday, Aug. 15, 2022. (Credit: Eraldo Peres/AP.)

In Cavalcante, families take advantage of the rare presence of a priest to marry couples and baptize children, who dress in white. A lit candle symbolizes their encounter with Jesus Christ and entrance into the Catholic community. After the baptisms, musicians accompany the families to their homes.

The festival’s climax comes with the coronations of the Divine Holy Spirit and of Our Lady of the Abbey, represented by two emperors and a queen, picked randomly each year. On Monday, it was the turn of Matos, Adonildes da Cunha and Nilda dos Santos. They led their community along the pilgrimage’s final stretch to the chapel.

Vandeli Matos, wearing his crown as Emperor of the Holy Spirit, walks with his court during the culmination of the week-long pilgrimage and celebration for the patron saint “Nossa Senhora da Abadia” or Our Lady of Abadia, in the rural area of Cavalcante in Goias state, Brazil, Sunday, Aug. 14, 2022. (Credit: Eraldo Peres/AP.)
Neco Santana performs with the sword of the Holy Spirit Emperor during the culmination of the week-long pilgrimage and celebration for the patron saint “Nossa Senhora da Abadia” or Our Lady of Abadia, in the rural area of Cavalcante in Goias state, Brazil, Sunday, Aug. 14, 2022. (Credit: Eraldo Peres/AP.)
A member of the Kalunga quilombo, the descendants of runaway slaves, take part in the candlelight procession during the culmination of the week-long pilgrimage and celebration for the patron saint “Nossa Senhora da Abadia” or Our Lady of Abadia, in the rural area of Cavalcante in Goias state, Brazil, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2022. (Credit: Eraldo Peres/AP.)
Adonildes da Cunha, right, Emperor, and Nilda dos Santos, left, Queen, arrive for a celebration after Mass in the chapel of the Kalunga quilombo, during the culmination of the week-long pilgrimage and celebration for the patron saint “Nossa Senhora da Abadia” or Our Lady of Abadia, in the rural area of Cavalcante in Goias state, Brazil, Monday, Aug. 15, 2022. (Credit: Eraldo Peres/AP.)
Vandeli Matos is crowned as Emperor of the Holy Spirit during the culmination of the week-long pilgrimage and celebration for the patron saint “Nossa Senhora da Abadia” or Our Lady of Abadia, in the rural area of Cavalcante in Goias state, Brazil, Sunday, Aug. 14, 2022. (Credit: Eraldo Peres/AP.)
A family with their baptized young daughter family poses for photos during the post-baptism party at their home in the Kalunga quilombo, during the culmination of the week-long pilgrimage and celebration for the patron saint “Nossa Senhora da Abadia” or Our Lady of Abadia, in the rural area of Cavalcante in Goias state, Brazil, Monday, Aug. 15, 2022. (Credit: Eraldo Peres/AP.)
Adonildes da Cunha receives his Emperor’s crown in the Kalunga quilombo, during the culmination of the week-long pilgrimage and celebration for the patron saint “Nossa Senhora da Abadia” or Our Lady of Abadia, in the rural area of Cavalcante in Goias state, Brazil, Monday, Aug. 15, 2022. (Credit: Eraldo Peres/AP.)
Members of the Kalunga quilombo, the descendants of runaway slaves, arrive in the early evening to participate at the end of the week-long pilgrimage and celebration of “Nossa Senhora da Abadia” in the rural area of Cavalcante, Goias state, Brazil, Friday, Aug. 12, 2022. (Credit: Eraldo Peres/AP.)

Associated Press writer Diane Jeantet contributed to this story from Rio de Janeiro.