How About a Boi Bumba Festival Show in Parintins, Brazil?

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The port of call on March 6, 2023 was the small city of Parintins, Brazil (115,363 people in 2020). Holland America offered only two shore excursions. One was a 90-minute tour of the city on a triciclo “past the major highlights of the city.” Triciclo translates as 'tricycle,' but it's not really a trike but more a tuk-tuk in Asia. The second option was “The Boi Bumba Festival Show.” Since one of my main objectives in travel is to learn of the culture and customs, this was a no-brainer. From the Holland America web site: “The must-see Boi Bumba is one of the greatest folk festivals in Brazil. It is a world full of magic, bright colors, music, dance and folklore -- a feast for the senses. The luxurious costumes and floats, comparable to those seen at Rio’s Carnival, are a spectacle. Performers will dance and sing, celebrating the joy of life in a mesmerizing display of revelry. The captivating story of disputing families -- the Cids and the Monteverdes -- will unfold before you. The show features approximately sixty dancers and musicians, and will be performed at a local club or at the Convention Center. A local Caipirinha drink will be served during the 60-minute show. Notes: There is a walk of approximately 85 feet from the pier to the Parintins Convention Center located across street. If your ship is at anchor, patience will be required for the tendering operation. This is a spectacular performance -- loud, rhythmic music can be expected. Seating is partially stadium-style (about 50% of the seats are on one level). There may be an opportunity to purchase souvenirs outside the Convention Center. Tour is not guided.” Really? “There MAY be an opportunity to purchase souvenirs…” Really??? There MAY be a bat at a baseball game. Really?

First, make no mistake. We did not attend the Parintins Folklore Festival (Festival Folclórico de Parintins), aka Festival do Boi-Bumbá, Bumba Meu Boi, or simply Festival, which is held for three days in late June. “The Boi Bumba Festival Show” provides tourists with a sample of the music, costumes, dance and parade floats that COULD be found at the actual festival, and the producers of the “The Boi Bumba Festival Show” COULD make money from attendance by the cruise ship passengers. Really? The Boi Bumba Festival is a competition between two teams – the red team and the blue team – to tell a folkloric story. The pregnant wife of a man, so the story goes, has a craving for ox tongue. The man kills the neighbor’s ox, harvests the tongue and satisfies his wife’s desire. Feeling remorse in the aftermath, the man enlists the help of a shaman to resurrect the ox from the dead. The shaman is successful, the farmer forgives his neighbor and all is well in Folklorville. The competition is between two teams, Garantido and Caprichoso (one red, one blue and I don’t know which is which), with each team offering extended retellings of the story and each team trying to outdo the other with flamboyant costumes, dances, singing, music and parade floats. Each team must complete its show within two and a half hours, and if a team does not follow this time limitation, it suffers a points penalty. Each nightly performance is largely based on local Amazonian folklore and indigenous culture but also incorporates contemporary Brazilian rhythms and themes.

The teams compete in the "Bumbódromo," a round, dedicated stage which holds an audience of 35.000 people. The festival is now one of the largest annual festivals in Brazil and only Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Salvador Da Bahia, Brazil draw more participants. The festival is recognized as a Cultural Heritage of Brazil by the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage. Wikipedia enlightens us, “Despite the importance of the celebration to the Amazonas region of Brazil, this festival was not widely known in other parts of the country until the musical group Carrapicho released the hit Tic Tic Tac - Bate forte o tambor in 1996. The Parintins Folklore Festival was also responsible for the release of other songs that became known in Brazil, such as Vermelho and Parintins Para o Mundo Ver, among others.” Who would I be to dispute Wikipedia? Interestingly, supporters of the blue team boycotted Coca Cola for its red cans, so Coca Cola introduced blue cans in the region in the days surrounding the festival. Indeed, during the 2011 Festival do Boi-Bumbá, Coca-Cola was available throughout the Parintins area in special edition cans that were half red and half blue.

As arrivals at the Parintins Convention Center goes, I was a late arrival but found an empty seat in the second row next to another Larry – the husband of the couple whose cabin is across the passageway from mine. The music NEVER stopped, the dancing NEVER stopped (but two “platoons” of dancers alternated), the singing NEVER stopped (although there were two singers who alternated) and the festivities, the energy, the excitement and the spectacle NEVER, EVER stopped for about an hour. I was exhausted from listening, watching and taking videos AND stills – take that Bill Gates! I hope you enjoy looking at the pictures a mere ten percent as much as I did taking them. Go Blue Team! A color I can readily see and, therefore, my favorite color.

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Photos

We Had Company at the Tender Pier – Parintins, Brazil
“There may be an opportunity to purchase souvenirs…”

Boi Bumba Festival Show – Parintins, Brazil
All of the Performers Were Open to Photo Ops with the Passengers

Comments

[JUDY WORLEY]

Question
How can we purchase tickets to a Boi Bumba show on Mar 2, 2024

[retiredfflarry]

Boi Bumba Festival
I went as part of a shore excursion I purchased from the cruise company, Holland America. Good luck, it's a great show.