Festa Junina (Portuguese: June Festival) is the name of an annual Brazilian/Portuguese celebrations which take place in the middle of winter and are most associated with the Brazilian Northeastern area, but celebrated in the whole Brazil and Portugal. It’s mainly celebrated on the following days of the Catholic feast of Saint Anthony, John the Baptist and Saint Peter.

The Brazilian north-east is largely arid or semi-arid. These popular festivals not only coincide with the rainy seasons of most states in the north-east but they also provide the people with an opportunity to give thanks to Saint Peter and Saint John for the rain. They also celebrate rural life and feature typical clothing, food, dance (particularly quadrilha, which is similar to square dancing), and music.

Usually taking place in an arraial, a large, open space outdoors, men dress up as farm boys with braces and straw hats and women wear pigtails, freckles, painted gap teeth and red-checkered dresses, all in a loving tribute to the origins of the music, and of themselves.

Our English version of this colourful festival will bring you delicious traditional food from Brasil and Portugal, correio elegante (cheeky mail), games, folk dances like forro and baiao, and a lot of hip hop, drum n’ bass, electro, Punk, Dub and whatever the sun brings.