It was a day for music, dancing, delicious food, and celebrating the culture of a tiny island nation that has a big presence in Wareham and throughout the South Coast.

The 2013 Onset Cape Verdean Festival kicked off on Saturday, August 10, with Carla Ribeiro of Brockton belting out the Cape Verdean National Anthem in Creole.

Right before she went on, Teddy Mathews of Wareham sang the American National Anthem.

"It's beautiful," said Ribeiro, who has performed at the festival two years in a row. "It's one of the best festivals in the area."

Richard Gilbert brought D's Delight -- a canteen on wheels — from Falmouth to sell Cape Verdean fare such as gufong and jag.

Gilbert says he brings the food all over the place, and sometimes runs into people who haven't tried it.

"We go all over," said Gilbert. "We get the same complaints: When are you coming back?"

He said he's a regular at the Onset festival.

"We love Onset," he said. "It's great see this many of our people come out."

Marian Rose, vice president of the Oak Grove Cape Verdean Cultural Center Committee, was on hand telling festival-goers about the mission of the group, which is working to raise money to build a "cultural center" in Onset where people can learn about Cape Verdean history, art, music, and more.

Rose said that a visit to the island nation was eye-opening, and a number of things stood out to her: people walking everywhere, dogs not being kept as pets, and the stark contrast between the more metropolitan Santiago and more rural areas where she says donkeys are ubiquitous.

"There's a lot of donkeys in the Cape Verde islands," said Rose, noting that the things that make Cape Verde different from life in the states are what makes it great.

"If you want what you have in America," she says, "Stay in America."

Rhode Island-based non-profit Cape Verdeans United had trays of piping hot food such as pastel de peixe, hot little fried pockets of dough filled with seasoned tuna.

The organization helps build playgrounds and buy school supplies for students in Cape Verde.

"Our mission is to help children get an education," said Co-Founder and President of Cape Verdeans United, Genie Momba.

While Cape Verdean culture is everywhere on the South Coast, it's not as widely known across the country, and there was a shirt for sale instructed readers: "Cape Verdean: Google it..."

"We get tired of explaining it," a customer named Anita said, exasperatedly.