Saturday
23rd June 2012, 14h
June Festival
at APS Down
Londrina - Brazil
Festa Junina (June Festival), also known as festa de São João for their part in celebrating the nativity of St. John the Baptist, are the annuall Brazilian celebrations historically related to European Midsummer that take place in the beginning of the Brazilian winter. These festivities, which were introduced by the Portuguese during the colonial period (1500-1822), are celebrated nationwide but are particularly associated with Northeastern Brazil. The feast is mainly celebrated on the eves of the Catholic solemnities of Saint Anthony, Saint John the Baptist, and Saint Peter. June parties are celebrated in many countries around the world. However, they are particularly popular in Christian European countries.
As Northeast Brazil is largely arid or semi-arid these popular festivals not only coincide with the end of the rainy seasons of most states in the northeast but they also provide the people with an opportunity to give thanks to Saint John for the rain. They also celebrate rural life and feature typical clothing, food, dance (particularly quadrilha, which is similar to square dancing).
Like during Carnival, these festivities involve costume-wearing (in this case, peasant costumes), dancing, drinking, and visual spectacles (fireworks display and folk dancing).
The traditional costume for the parties is ´Caipira´, or ´Country´ in English, and the people enjoy square dancing dressed in an assortment of chequered shirts, straw hats, painted freckles and riding boots. Men dress up as farm boys with large straw hats and women wear pigtails, freckles, painted gap teeth and red-checkered dresses, all in a loving tribute to the origins of Brazilian country music.
Today, above all, June parties are a great reason for churches, schools, colleges, companies and even families and friends to get together to have some fun and let their hair down. Every weekend during the month you can encounter the Country Music of a Festa Junina close by.Special thanks to Rafael, Marcia & Viviane.
