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Culture · Parintins
The rivalry between the Garantido (red) and Caprichoso (blue) bumba-meu-boi groups at the Bumbódromo in Parintins, an island on the Amazon River: three nights of toadas, giant floats and Amazonian legends.
In the photo: Parintins
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
Click a photo to enlarge it.
Parintins Folkloric Festival — Parintins
On the last weekend of June, over three consecutive nights, from Friday to Sunday.
June
Dates change every year: check this year's date before you travel.
The festival
Parintins, a town on an island in the Amazon River in the eastern part of the state of Amazonas, hosts its Folkloric Festival at the end of June. The celebration began in 1965 as a quadrilha festival, and the next year it started featuring the city’s two bumba-meu-boi groups, Garantido (red and white) and Caprichoso (blue and white). Since then, the rivalry between the two has divided Parintins into two fanbases.
The performances take place at the Bumbódromo, an arena built in the shape of a stylized ox’s head, with the stands split in half: on one side the Garantido supporters, on the other the Caprichoso fans. On each of the three nights, the two bois perform for about two and a half hours each, with toadas sung live, hundreds of dancers and giant floats that move and transform in the arena. Judges evaluate items such as the porta-estandarte, the cunhã-poranga, the pajé, the levantador de toadas and the Amazonian legends.
The storylines tell myths, rituals and struggles of indigenous peoples and the lives of Amazon riverside communities, drawing on the traditional tale of the ox, Pai Francisco and Catirina. Many Parintins artists work year-round in the groups’ workshops, building floats and costumes, and the town has its own tradition of visual artists.
On festival days the whole town dresses in red or blue, and even shop facades follow the colors. The journey to the island, by plane or by boat along the Amazon, is part of the experience for visitors coming from afar.
The three nights at the Bumbódromo, with both bois performing in sequence. The open rehearsals in the groups’ corrals in the weeks before the festival. The arrival of boats at Parintins’ port.
Choose the stand of the ox you will support: at the Bumbódromo, the fan sections are separated by color. Wear the colors of your side and avoid the rival’s colors in the opposite stand. Bring a handheld fan and water: the nights are hot. To get there, there are flights from Manaus of about one hour, and boats and launches along the Amazon ranging from several hours to more than a day; there is no road access.
Amazon fish such as roasted tambaqui and pirarucu, tacacá, açaí and regional sweets, sold at city stalls and around the Bumbódromo.
Tickets, boats and accommodation sell out months in advance. Many visitors stay on hotel boats anchored at the port or in residents’ homes. Check the year’s date before buying.
In the city
June
May/JuneOn the days leading up to Pentecost Sunday, 50 days after Easter; therefore it falls in May or June.
Paraty’s most traditional religious festival, with a novena, processions through the historic center, a solemn Mass and a Sunday Pentecost procession.
May/JuneAround Pentecost Sunday, 50 days after Easter, in May or June; the Cavalhadas begin on Pentecost Sunday and last three days.
The Holy Spirit Festival of the historic town of Pirenópolis, in Goiás, featuring folias (devotional bands), masses, masked horsemen and the Cavalhadas, an equestrian reenactment of the battle between Christians and Moors.
May/June/JulyFor about a month, from late May or early June until late June or early July, with the high points on the eves of Saint Anthony (June 13), Saint John (June 24) and Saint Peter (June 29).
Campina Grande’s June festival, in the Agreste of Paraíba, which fills Parque do Povo for about a month with forró shows, quadrilhas, bonfires and corn-based foods.
Your questions
On the last weekend of June, over three consecutive nights, from Friday to Sunday, at the Bumbódromo.
By plane from Manaus in about one hour, or by boat or launch along the Amazon River, in trips ranging from several hours to more than a day. There is no road to the island.
They are Parintins’ two bumba-meu-boi groups. Garantido is red and white, symbolized by a heart; Caprichoso is blue and white, symbolized by a star. Each has its own supporters, its own stand and its own artists.
Festivals and events in Brazil
May/JuneThroughout June, with programming that usually starts in late May or early June and ends around the feast of Saint Peter on June 29; the highlight is the night before Saint John’s Day.
The June festival of Caruaru, in the Agreste of Pernambuco, the Forró Capital, with concerts at the Pátio de Eventos Luiz Gonzaga, traditional forró (forró pé de serra) at Alto do Moura, and oversized corn-based dishes.
June/JulyBetween late June and early July, always including June 29, German Settler Day, a municipal holiday in Petrópolis.
Petrópolis’s German Settler festival, featuring traditional German food and beer, folk dance groups, and events around the Crystal Palace.
June/SeptemberEvery two years, in odd-numbered years; usually in September, sometimes in June. · Every two years
Rio de Janeiro’s major book fair, held every two years, with publisher booths, author events and programming for children and young people.
JuneDuring the June festival cycle: the bulls are baptized on June 23 and the cycle ends on June 30, the day of Saint Marçal; performances may continue into July.
São Luís’s São João, centered on the bumba-meu-boi and recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage element: groups of different accents perform in arraiais across the city, with toadas, matracas, zabumbas and embroidered bulls.
June/July/AugustIn July, for about a month, sometimes starting in late June and ending in early August.
Campos do Jordão classical music festival in the Mantiqueira Range, with orchestra and chamber music concerts at the Claudio Santoro Auditorium and other city venues, plus a training program for young musicians.
JanuaryOn January 20, the day of the city’s patron saint, which is a municipal holiday in Rio de Janeiro.
The patron saint’s day in Rio de Janeiro, with masses and the procession that carries the saint’s image from Tijuca to the Metropolitan Cathedral in the downtown area.