Festas Juninas or June Festivals take place during the month of June to celebrate the date of birth of some Christian saints, especially Santo Antônio, Saint Anthony on June 12, São João, Saint John on June 24 and São Pedro, Saint Peter on June 29.
Festas Juninas, also called quermesses, were originally festas caipira, peasant festivals, to honor those saints that have found their way into big cities while still remaining a favorite among small towns and villages throughout Brazil.
They are usually held outdoors, in places decorated with many bandeirinhas coloridas, small colored flags, and include quadrilha, square dancing, jogos com prêmios, games with prizes, fogueiras, campfires, and comidas típicas, typical food.
Among the traditional foods there are salsicha, franks, pipoca, popcorn, pamonha, a type of corn custard and bolo de fuba, sweet cornbread. There are alcoholic drinks such as vinho quente, mulled wine and quentão, mulled cachaça, which is a Brazilian spirit, and non-alcoholic drinks like sucos, juices and chás, teas.
Dressing up like caipiras, or peasants is almost mandatory and part of the fun. The highlight of these parties is the casamento caipira, peasant wedding, in which everyone participates and dances around the couple. This is not a real wedding and sometimes a girl dresses up as o noivo, the groom and a boy as a noiva, the bride.
These are not official holidays, and most of the activities are held in the evenings or on weekends, especially at schools all over Brazil.
It is worth noting that Dia dos Namorados, or Brazil’s version of Valentine’s Day, is celebrated on June 12, the day of Saint Anthony, the patron saint of lovers in Brazil. Just like in other parts of the world, couples exchange gifts and go out on romantic dinners.
As most of square dancing is accompanied by music, below you’ll find the lyrics to a traditional song.
.jpg "Festa de Santo Antônio")
Festa de Santo Antônio
O balão vai subindo / A balloon* is going up
Vem caindo a garoa / Drizzle is falling
O céu é tão lindo / The sky is so beautiful
E a noite é tão boa / The evening is so nice
São João / Saint John
São João / Saint John
Acende a fogueira / Light up the campfire
do meu coração / in my heart
Balão or balloon (seen on the lower left-hand side and on the upper right-hand side of the picture above) have been banned in Brazil. They go up thanks to heated air supplied by wick, doused in paraffin and lit on fire, and if they fall, they can fires in homes and forests.
