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Brazil: Head for the Hills for an Authentic Festa Junina
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By Marilyn Diggs
June 14, 2010
June will be here before you can say, "pé de moleque" (peanut brittle) and with it comes the lively folkloric parties called Festa Junina. Many of you will attend them in the city at schools, churches and even social clubs, which will be typically decorated with strings of colorful, crepe-paper flags. The dress is country bumpkin, where little girls wear calico dresses with ruffles, straw hats with lace along the rim, fake (usually) braids, and freckles drawn on their cheeks. Boys go for jeans with patches, plaid shirts, a few blackened-out teeth and straw cowboy hats. Children‘s activities include fishing for prizes, sack races, three-legged race, and country-style carnie games to win prizes.
Square Dancing, Sweets and Saints
One of the highlights of a Festa Junina is a quadrilha, a type of square dance. Traditionally, a mock bride and groom lead the other couples in the fun. During their wedding ceremony, the groom invariably runs away and is often brought back by an angry father of the bride.
 Prepare to savor Brazilian sweets and food such as Maria Mole (marshmallow), rapadura (unrefined sugar cane), paçoca (pressed peanut powder), popcorn, candied apples, and coconut chewies. Corn comes disguised as cold pudding, or a sugared paste inside a husk "purse." Grilled meat on skewers and cooked pine nuts are washed down with quentão, a ginger tea with pinga, or vinho quente, a warm spicy wine.
All these Festa Junina festivities are to honor three saints: St. Anthony of Padua - the patron saint of weddings ( June 13th), St. John the Baptist - the saint who is a model for a perfect life (June 24th) and St. Peter, who guards heaven´s pearly gates ( June 29th) .
Rural Festivities Make It Real
Although it has become a commercialized party, the traditional Festa Junina is still celebrated in rural communities. It started in the colonial times with the Catholic Portuguese and Spanish settlers celebrating the harvest and worshipping saints. Processions where a saint‘s statue is hoisted onto shoulders and paraded through town still take place in hinterland communities.
Cool June weather calls for bonfires, which are part of the Festa Junina tradition. Hot-air balloons are often still released into the sky, taking with them notes with requests to the saints. Many have to do with marriage partners, which St. Antonio surely hears on his special day. An image of the revered saint is erected on a pole and hovers over the party-goers, blessing the festivities. The fun continues into the night as country bands sing along to accordion, guitar and tambourine.
 My choice for the Festa Junina is just 80 km from Saõ Paulo. Fazenda Capoava, a historic ranch dating from the 18th century, is the perfect location for the rural festivities. Its owners, who take pride in their Brazilian heritage, make the experience authentic. Celebrate Festa Junina the way it was meant to be: in the country.
Fazenda Capoava
Special Festa Junina weekend packages, or come just for the party on Sat. 7 pm - 11pm. (June 12 and 26)
How to get there: From São Paulo, take the Bandeirantes highway and exit at 59 km onto Rodovia Dom Gabriel Paulino Bueno Couto (former Marechal Rondon). At km 89,9 exit again, then continue to a dirt road and follow the signs.
Reservations (11) 4023-0903 ou reservas@fazendacapoava.com.br
Site: www.fazendacapoava.com.br
Marilyn Diggs is an American living in Brazil for over twenty years. She is a freelance writer, artist, lecturer and author of nine books - two about Brazilian art history. As an art reporter and travel writer she has two monthly columns in Sunday News, Brazil's English language newspaper that circulates in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia. She has written for the Miami Herald and Museum International , a UNESCO publication. Marilyn has a degree in Latin American Studies and is often contracted by intercultural training services to give talks on expat challenges. www.mdiggs.com
Previous articles by Marilyn:
Fazenda Capoava: Tourism - Brazilian Style
Dune Walk in Northeastern Brazil
Everything´s Coming Up Roses in Holambra, the City of Flowers
Around Brazil: Embu Das Artes - History, Headdresses and Handicrafts
Full Steam Ahead! Chilean Vineyards by Train
A Trip to Easter Island: Beyond the Obvious
Atacama Desert, Chile - I Came, I Saw, I Explored
Journey through the Fjords of Patagonia
Around Brazil: Japí Mountains, When Nature Calls
Around Brazil: Living the Amazon
Brazil: A Spa that Takes Care of Body and Soul
Around South America: Puyuhuapi - Chile's Patagonian Secret
Around South America: Looking for Adventure in Chile´s Patagonia
Around South America: Road Trip through a Forgotten Land - Aisén, Chile
Conquering Cape Horn
Around Brazil: Hang-Gliding Over Rio
Around Brazil: Sailing in Paraty
Santiago: Gateway to the Chilean Experience
The Enchanting Easter Island
Nature and Nurturing in Chile‘s Lake Region
Chilean Patagonia: Going to the Ends of the Earth
Around Brazil: Adventure in the Pantanal and Bonito Part 2
Around Brazil: Adventure in the Pantanal and Bonito Part 1
Spending the Night in the Lost City of the Incas - Machu Picchu
Brazil: Happy Moonlit Trails To You
Brazil: Paradise Found - Fernando de Noronha
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6/14/2010
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