Celebrations!

​ =__**BOI BUMBA**__= The //Boi Bumbá// festival presents myths, tales and legends using characters, parade carts and giant puppets followed by the words of a master of ceremonies It is a HUGE musical and theatrical experience, a religious procession, a tribal ritual, a giant puppet show, a fairy tale of powerful villains and brave heroes, a folk art presentation, a big group for the audience and a choreography of the galera, all at once. The characters in the show come from the //Boi Bumbá// tale. There are two teams called //Bois//. Each one tells the same story in all three night of the festival, amounting to 6 different performances of the show. But every night is different because legends, rituals, dances, puppets, garments, alegorias, they all change and create the show anew. There are many similar festivities in Brazil, but Parintins is the home of the biggest and most impressive of all. It is both an artistic display and a dispute between two different teams: Bois //Caprichoso// and //Garantido//. Boi is the Portuguese word for ox, and it is also the main character of the drama that comes every night in an arena watched by 35,000 people. After the 3-hour show of each Boi, the city has food, drinks and party for everybody. The main square, bars and every little corner near the Bumbódromo accommodate a crowd still full of energy to mimic the dance and songs of their favorite Boi. Parintins folklore has its own principles: it expresses spontaneous culture and evolves freely, always in its own terms. It is not clear exactly how the whole thing started. Some accounts hold that Lindolfo Monteverde, the alleged creator of Garantido, brought to life a bedtime story he used to hear from his grandfather. Similarly, Caprichoso is considered to be a creation of José Furtado Belém and the Cid brothers. Each Boi would be the result of a different //promessa// to St. John the Baptist. The play tells the story of Pai Francisco, who worked in a farm, and Mãe Catirina, his pregnant wife who longed to eat beef tongue. Pai Francisco kills an ox to satisfy his wife's craving. Unfortunately, this ox is the farm owner's favorite. A priest and a doctor fail to revive the Boi, for whose death Pai Francisco would be sent to jail. The story has a happy end thanks to the ritual performed by a //pajé//. Pai Francisco is forgiven and the whole ordeal ends in a major party that celebrates the Boi's life. Celebrations in Parintins Parintins began modestly enough with processions throughout the city. As time went by, the festival, the story and the characters changed to incorporate legends, rituals, music and dance of local indians and to celebrate the lifestyle of the //caboclo//, the countryman who has a mixed heritage of Europeans an aborigines.

My questions...

when is boi bumba? The event takes place during three days in late June.

where is boi bumba? the celebration held in the Brazilian city of Parintins, A mazonas.

why is it held? The festival celebrates a local about a resurrected ox.

how is it celebrated? By dacing, songs and drama, story telling and music

how many people come each year? around 35,000

I got most of my infomation from... http://www.boibumba.com/brief_en.htm

hope you enjoyed reading !!!