Taking Part in the "Festa Junina"

I pulled out my sewing machine the other day when my sister-in-law, Jaqueline, came to visit. We started to prepare the kid for his "Festa Junina" school dance and presentation and this of course requires a costume to be made. Wouldn't want the Canadian kid to stick out without a proper outfit, so I set off to learn more about this holiday.

The "Festa Junina" (June Festival) is celebrated across Brazil, but takes its roots in the Northeast of the country. Introduced by the Portuguese in colonial times, these celebrations honor the Catholic saints;  St-Peter, St-Anthony and St-John the Baptist during the month of June. Given that St-John is the saint of marital union, and to celebrate rural life in that arid region of Brazil, people dress up as farmers, dance a type of square dance around a fake bride and groom, build a bonfire and listen to "forro", a kind of country music from that region.  It's hard to wrap my head around it given that my only knowledge of festivities honoring St-John is la St-Jean Baptiste in Quebec, which involves a lot of drinking, fireworks, and outdoor concerts. So it's a kind of St-Jean Baptiste mixed in with Thanksgiving with a country themed Halloween party. Ah, ah, ah!

Here is Luiz Gonzaga's Asa Branca. He is the king of "forro".(Notice his traditional Northeast costume in the video.)

I worked on the kid's farmer's costume, ran to several different malls, and got all the bits and pieces. I'm pretty proud of myself for successfully putting all this together. Last Saturday night, we walked over to the condominium complex next to ours where they had set up a Festa Junina. We arrived around 5 as they were setting up and we tried to stay as late as possible given that the boy was nearly falling asleep at the table and refused to wear his hat. We fished some fish in a bucket, won some play-doh, shared a beer, and saw the band arrive. Geraldo reminisced about his childhood and fooling around with his friends and the kid and I got a taste of this June tradition. Apparently, the party was hopping 'til the wee hours of the morning, but we were all tucked up in bed by then. The celebrations will continue at school this week, and I'm not sure if I can get the boy back in his costume... but maybe when he sees his friends also dressed in their farmer's getup, he'll throw his hat on with a HEEHAW!