Festa Junina
Festa Junina #03
Originally uploaded by Limao.
There's are a few holidays in Brazil that aren't celebrated or recognized in the U.S. One of these is Festa Junina or June Fest. It's essentially a harvest festival and recalls rural traditions.
People dress up as country bumpkins and eat foods of the rural northeast. At the Festa Junina in which I participated, there was a lot of popcorn and roasted corn on the cob. Corn is harvested at that time of year.
You'll notice a that women typically put their hair in pig-tails and paint freckles on their cheeks. Men wear straw hats. There's also a lot of music and dancing. The music is "forró", Brazilian country music. People do a form of square dancing called "quadrilha". It's celebrated all over Brazil but especially in the "nordeste" where it originates.
This Wikipedia entry tells more.
posted by Tyson @ 6:42 AM
2 Comments:
At 12:33 PM, June 20, 2006,
Jaguaraça said…
I have never heard of 'Festa Junina', but from it's description I would have thought you were talking about São Juão, a huge festival each June that originated in the Nordeste. Second in size, I would say, only to Carnaval, São Juão (St. John) celebrates the harvest, with pamonha and other corn-related foods, as well as forró dances and folk music. Depending on who you ask, São Juão probably refers to the catholic saint, although there are other stories about important figures named Juão in Brazilian history, who helped with the harvest, or tem algo a ver com o candomblé (have something to do with candomblé), or perhaps brought on an important rainfall. During São Juão most city-dwellers spend the week in the country, where a maioria das festas occur, although those without familia ou amigos no interior can certainly find plenty to do in the city if they prefer. Party-goers generally dress to emphasize country heritage. (language note: any place away from the city--at least in the northeast--is referred to as o interior. most baianos would also consider any city outside of Salvador to be interior as well.)
Somehow I have managed to spend over six months in Brazil and haven't yet experienced either Carnaval or São Juão. When I went for study abroad I arrived a day or two before it ended, and didn't find out until later why all the streets were bedecked with white (or sometimes colored) fringed streamers. (In candomblé, white fringed streamers usually hang above the terreiro, or ceremonial ground. I don't suppose anyone could find a good picture?) On my second trip, I left a week or so before São Juão began--although I did get a sneak preview of several great foods, my favorite being the amazing corn cakes.
So how's that for a comment? I should have made a new post. Oh well.
At 6:13 AM, June 21, 2006,
Tyson said…
That's interesting. From this article, Festa Junina encompasses the days of three saints that fall in June. They are Santo Antônio, São Pedro and São João.
I think the day allocated to São João gets the most emphasis.
Your impressions about people taking the whole week off and spending time in the interior matches up with guia4rodas assessment that "As festas dedicadas aos três santos católicos são, para muitas cidades destas regiões, mais importantes do que o Carnaval."
It would be great to find some recipes for the corn cakes.
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