Assembling at the newly-completed Gates on Ponta Delgada Boulevard Street, over a hundred people of Portuguese descent enjoyed unusually warm mid-December temperatures and a chance to hear a variety of Christmas music on December 17, 2006. Planned by the Fall River City Gates Committee chaired by Francisco Cabral, the program included Christmas entertainment from many local Portuguese groups and the B.M.C. Durfee High School band. Nova Television was on hand to record Christmas messages from the public to be aired in the Azores. The plaza and gates have been decorated with Christmas trees and holiday lights since the end of November with the help of electrician Dan Silva.
 

(Top row, left) State Representative Robert Correia talks with Pedro Amaral, one of the hosts for a Channel 20 broadcast of the event. (Top row, center) Rachel and Carley Medeiros wave their new light sticks while their Aunt Maria and Grandmother Joan watch from behind. (Top row, right) Fall River City Councilor Al Alves is interviewed by RTP television correspondent John Gonsalves. (Middle row, left) Voz Do Emigrante radio host Frank Baptista interviews eight-year-old Geana Teodoro from Rumford, RI, on a live broadcast from the event. (Middle row, right) Lucrecia Dutra and Celia Nobrega talk with a friend before the ceremonies begin. (Bottom row, left) Joe Soares of Fall River enjoys the Christmas music. (Bottom row, center) Ten-year-old Marissa Marques, thirteen-year-old Chantele Nobrega and ten-year-old Beatriz Furtado go over their Christmas carols one last time. (Bottom row, right) sincers from the Victorian Carolers of the Lusitania Carolers' Association warm the crowd with selections in both English and Portuguese.