FESTA JUNITA, the fourth annual celebration of traditional Brazilian music, food, and culture, takes place in The Claddagh Hall, this Saturday, from 9pm.
The event will feature Brazilian music with Kalango and band, particularly in forro style, most associated with northeast Brazil; a DJ set from Brazilian DJ Guil, as well as junina food, traditional quadrilha, a form of square dancing, and more.
Festa Junina, typically termed São João, is the name of annual Brazilian celebrations of Saint John and the end of summer in the southern hemisphere. The festivals were introduced by the Portuguese during the colonial period (1500-1822 ), and have come to be celebrations of rural life with quadrilha dancing being a large part of the occasion.
Quadrilha features couple in formation around a mock wedding whose bride and groom are the central attraction of the dancing. The celebrations usually take place in an arraial, a huge tent made of raw material that was reserved for special parties in old rural areas. Men dress up as farm boys with large straw hats and women wear pigtails and red-checkered dresses, and paint on freckles and a gap in their teeth.
The event is organised by Atlantic Language Galway and tickets are €5 on the door.
