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NileGuide Expert tip:
The boi-bumba festival is massively popular in Brazil. People make bookings a long time in advance, so unless you want to end up somewhere either wildly expensive or supremely skuzzy, you'd be better off doing this too. June in the Amazon can be really hot – so packing rehydration salts (in Brazil generally hard to obtain, and when available mostly in old sock flavour only) could be a really good idea.Description:
Normal 0 21 false false false PT-BR X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Tabela normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}Parantins is on the border between Amazonas and Para states, on an island (Tupinambarana) in the Amazon river. The island is at the confluence of the Amazon with the Madeira and Abacaxi rivers, whose currents have cut the main island into four bringe-linked parts. Tupinambarana may be the second-biggest fluvial island in the world, but that's not what brings 100,000 visitors to the city every year. What does that is Festival Folklorico de Parintins, otherwise known as Boi-bumba. A festival with ancient origins in the Iberian Peninsula that predate the current countries, Boi bumba was introduced into Brazil with the Portuguese and took cultural root in the north and north-east, where it now has huge numbers of regional variations. However, its most explosively flamboyant expression is without doubt in Parintins in what is the second biggest annual festival in Brazil after the Rio Carnival. The festival revolves around an ancient tale about the resurrection of an ox ('boi'in Portuguese). Each yearsince at least 1913 two teams have competed to tell the story, there are traditional roles and must-have aspects, but, as with the Rio Carnival, an awful lot of additional creativity and virtuoso add-ons appear each year. Two teams compete yearly, one is made up of supporters of the guarantido bull (who is white with a red forehead heart), the opposition favours the black bull with the blue star, caprichoso. Everything in the town (bars, cloths, public phone boxes) is either red or blue and supporters are honour bound to keep to the colour. So much so that caprichoso supporters protested to coca-cola about the favouritism of their can colour. Parintins is now is only place on the planet you can get coca-cola in blue tins. The whole event occurs in the bumbadrome and includes gorgeous costumes, fabulous dancing, singing, fireworks and just about the most exuberant collectivity you can imagine. It's a puritan's nightmare come true.
The festival occurs each year for a week in June. But, if you miss it, there are regular mini-versions each week, 2-hour shows that help keep the dancers in trim and allow the opposing teams to try out new kit and ideas.
