João Andrade makes woven baskets. Such crafts will be for sale at the Day of Portugal Festival Saturday.

If you can’t get to Portugal this weekend, try downtown Providence. It’s the site of the 31st annual Day of Portugal in Rhode Island. The day is Saturday, and it should be quite a day, which shouldn’t be a surprise.

“Rhode Island has the highest percentage of Portuguese-Americans in the United States,” says Marie Fraley, president of Day of Portugal and Portuguese Heritage in Rhode Island.

According to the most recent census, 10 percent of Rhode Islanders, some 100,000 people, claim Portuguese ancestry.

“The Day of Portugal is significant for the Portuguese community in Rhode Island. We share this celebration with Portuguese-speaking people all over the world.”

Technically, the Day of Portugal is June 10, but Saturday celebrations tend to get a better turnout. About 5,000 people are expected, after organizers tweaked the festival schedule, and added a key element to it.

“The Portuguese people who are most recently immigrated are just rabid about soccer.”

On Saturday at 2:45 p.m., Portugal plays Turkey in a Euro Cup soccer match. Originally Providence’s Day of Portugal parade was scheduled to start at 3 p.m.

“People said the game is on. I said, ‘Tape it.’ They looked at me like I was crazy.”

Now, the festival’s opening ceremonies begin at noon at the State House. From there, a parade will step off at 1 p.m. and proceed down Smith Street to Canal Street to Steeple Street to Kennedy Plaza, the site of the Portuguese Heritage Festival.

And there, parade watchers and festival goers will find a giant television screen showing a live satellite broadcast of the Portugal-Turkey soccer match. At 5 p.m., when the game is expected to end, the festival will officially begin, with live music and dancing, food and crafts, and all things Portuguese.

Last year was the first time since the festival’s first year that it was held in downtown Providence. Previously the festival moved around the state from Portuguese community to Portuguese community.

“We feel Providence is the right place. Portuguese people can be private and keep to themselves. But this is something to be proud of.”

The official Day of Portugal, Tuesday, which will be recognized at 6 that evening with a ceremony in the State House, honors Luis Vaz de Camoes, a 16th-century Portuguese poet who wrote the nation’s epic poems, The Lusiads.

Admission to the festival is free. For more information, visit www.dayofportugal.org.

brourke@projo.com