BLIZZARD, Shamrock Bulletin Headquarters – Welcome back to Cultural Compass! In this column, we will be exploring different traditions from all around the world. This time we will explore the Brazilian celebration Festa Junina. Let’s jump right into it!
It happens during all of June (1st – 30th) and it’s also known as ‘Festas de São João’, because it celebrates the birth of St. John the Baptist (June 24th). This celebration was introduced by the Portuguese during the colonial period (1500 – 1822) and it adapts the European solstice that happens during winter in the southern hemisphere and, since the Brazilian climate is so different from the European, many people used to use the festival as a way to thank for the rain. The festivities used to be held in an ‘arraial’, a huge thatched roof tent reserved for important celebrations in the interior of old Brazil.
As this festival is mainly celebrated by rural farmers, men dress up as farmers with big straw hats, and women wear braids, freckles, painted teeth, and plaid dresses. There are many typical dances during this festival (most of them brought by the Portuguese during the 19th century), the main one being the ‘quadrilha’ that is characterized by pairs arranged around a mock wedding, with the bride and the groom being the main focus of the dance, this symbolizes earth’s fertility. There are also many games that are aimed towards the child audience, specially in the events made by schools.
With this little bit of context, let’s shift into some specific aspect of this festival with our interview segment! Today’s interviewee is our beloved former Troop of The Month, Bina! Say thank you to my twin whenever you see them around!
The interview was done in portuguese, so translations are highlighted in green.
Oi, Bina! Bem-vindo a esta entrevista, você poderia nos dar um breve resumo do que acontece durante a Festa Junina na sua cidade?
Hi, Bina! Welcome to this interview, could you give us a quick summary of what happens in your city during Festa Junina?
oiê!! claro
por aqui tem vários lugares que organizam a festa junina, as que eu costumo ir são organizadas por escolas ou igrejas e geralmente são lugares onde tem várias barraquinhas vendendo comida, jogos, bebidas e ao centro tem apresentações de danças tradicionais, feitas dos alunos/crianças da igreja
hai!! of course
over here there are lots of places that organize “festa junina’, the ones I usually go are organised by schools or churches and in general it’s places full of stalls selling food, drinks and games to play and win prizes
in the center there are traditional dance performances, made by the students/kids from the churches
Isso parece muito legal 😮 Qual é sua parte favorita dessa festa?
That sounds really cool 😮 What’s your favorite part of this fest?
quando eu era criança gostava muito de jogar nas barracas, era muito divertido buscar as recompensas, principalmente quando eu ganhava biribinha pra jogar e fazer bagunça hehe
hoje em dia acredito que a comida, adoro praticamente todas as comidas típicas dessa época!
when i was a kid i really liked to play on the stalls, it was so fun aiming for prizes, especially when i got “biribinha” to throw and make a mess hehe
nowadays i believe it’s the food, i adore pratically every traditional food of this time of the year!
Awww, que fofo! Falando em comida, mesmo que você tenha dito que gosta de todos os pratos dessa época, qual você acha que é o seu favorito?
Awww, that’s so adorable! Speaking of food, even though you said you like every food of this time, what would you think it’s your favorite one
precisei parar pra pensar, é difícil escolher algo 😭 mas eu adoro curau!! e sobre bebidas eu gosto muito de quentão :DD
i had to stop to think about it, it’s so hard to choose 😭 but i really like “curau”!! and about drinks i love “quentão” :DD
Parar pra pensar é tão real kkkkkkkk 😭 Agora, mudando de assunto, você recomendaria que as pessoas viajassem ao Brasil para celebrar a Festa Junina?
Stopping to think about it is so true, LOL 😭 Now changing the subject, would you recommend that people travel to Brazil to celebrate the Festa Junina?
simm! é uma festa que ocorre em todo o território brasileiro, e cada região tem sua particularidade na forma de celebrar. é uma forma ótima de conhecer um pouquinho da nossa cultura :))
yess! it’s a festivity that occurs in all of brasil, and each region has it’s particularity in the way of celebrating. it’s a nice way of kowing a bit of our culture :))
Com certeza vou te visitar um dia desses 😉 Você poderia nos descrever o que faz durante esse dia?
I’ll definitely come visit you one of these days 😉 Could you describe what you do during that day?
mds sim!! venha e vamos comer paçoca :))
bem, realmente fazerr algo realmente era só quando me apresentava na época de escola! cheguei a dançar quadrilha e frevo, e depois me reunia com meus amigos pra tomar sorvete de milho nas barraquinhas. além disso às vezes tinha tarefa de fazer bandeirinhas decoradas
hoje em dia eu assisto meus irmãos dançando e jogando jogos da barraquinha, eles adoram jogar o de pescaria. e depois disso comemos crepes, churros, curau, pamonha, maçã do amor… enfim, é uma grande lista kakakasjk
omg yes!! come and let’s eat paçoca :))
well, actually doing something really was only when i used to dance back in school days! i danced “quadrilha” and “frevo”, and after we danced i’d gather with my friends and we’d eat corn ice cream in the stalls. besides that sometimes we’d have homework to make decorated flags nowadays i watch my siblings dancing and playing games on the stalls, they love to play the fishing one. after that we eat crepes, churros, curau, pamonha, maçã do amor… anyways, it’s a big list lol
Tudo isso parece muito legal, os bons tempos da juventude, e agora sou um velho… D-De qualquer forma, muito obrigado por essa entrevista, foi muito interessante! Tem mais alguma coisa que você gostaria de dizer?
That all sounds really cool, the good old days of youth, and now I’m an unc… A-Anyway, thank you so much for this interview; it was really interesting! Is there anything else you’d like to say?
😭literalmente eu……
imagina, obrigado a você por me entrevistar, foi divertido!!
acredito que não tenha nada, só espero que eu tenha conseguido compartilhar um pouquinho do meu país a quem leia! :))
😭literally me……
of course, thank you for interviewing me, it was fun!!
i believe there’s nothing else, i just hope i was able to share a little bit of my country to those who read! :))
Once again, thank you so much Bina for the interview! I learned a lot about Festa Junina in Brazil and i hope YOU did too! Thank you guys for reading today’s edition of Cultural Compass! Let us know what are your opinions on the comments below. Tchau, galera, e vai Brasil! 🇧🇷
Now where should we go next? 👀
