Festa Junina

Festa Junina (June Festival) is a celebration in month of June and has its roots in the Midsummer celebrations in Europe. The meaning of the celebration is thank São João for the good harvest and the rains.

These celebrations take place over the entire country. Many schools also have adopted it and yesterday evening we went to Colégio Santa Úrsula in the city where we live to witness the show that is part of the celebration. Our grand daughter Laís who is a pupil in that school participated as well. You see her on the photo above though it is not of a good quality.

The children are dressed in rural and traditional cloths and the music you hear is also the traditional music from the country side. Also the food is traditional although the last years you see influences from modern society. A common dance in the Festas Juninas is the quadrillha, that looks a bit like the square dance. Festa Junina plays an important part in the cultural inheritance of Brazil and draws a lot of people to the festivities to watch and participate.