The University of Arizona’s Spanish and Portuguese Department is bringing a vibrant piece of Brazilian culture to campus with a first-ever Festa Junina celebration.

This month-long festivity, dating back to Brazil’s colonial era more than 200 years ago, will be celebrated Friday, offering students and faculty a chance to experience traditional food, music and dances.

It marks the first official Festa Junina on the UA campus in its 140-year history and a unique opportunity to connect with Brazil’s rich cultural heritage.

“It’s at least the first Festa Junina (in Tucson) in the last 23 years,” Portuguese professor and program director Katia Bezerra said in Portuguese.

Bezerra said that from 1969 to 2003, Portuguese professor Nívea Parsons hosted many Brazilian-themed parties for faculty and students, and there used to be small Brazilian carnival celebrations in downtown Tucson in the 1990s and 2000s.

But current staff are unsure if Parsons ever organized a Festa Junina event. She was from Ceará, in the northeast part of Brazil, which has the largest celebrations.

“Festa Junina (represents) a way to share our culture with the same celebrations,” said Indira Pereira de Oliveira, a Brazilian Ph.D. student and researcher from the northeast of Brazil. “As Brazilians we love to party. It’s such a big country with the same celebrations, and that reunites people.”

Oliveira is from the state of Pará, in the Amazon region of Brazil. She said one of the more unique differences between Pará and other states is the Afro-Indigenous “dança do carimbó,” or Carimbó Dance, which was officially recognized as a cultural heritage of Brazil in 2015.

She called the Amazonian side of Festa Junina “enriching,” saying women wear flared, colorful dresses and dance with a male partner dressed in simple clothing, representing the region’s 19th-century fishermen.

Festa Junina is celebrated throughout the month of June with traditional dances like “quadrilha,” people dressing up in plaid checkered clothing called “roupa xadrez,” eating “paçoca” and moving to the rhythm of “forró.”

Festa Junina also encompasses three holidays in June celebrating various saints, including Santo Antônio on June 13, São João on June 24 and São Pedro on June 29.

“July 29 is actually known as the longest night in Brazil (during the winter solstice),” Bezerra said. “That is why most Brazilians drink the most that night.”

Growing up in Niterói, a city connected by a bridge across the bay from Rio de Janeiro, Bezerra remembers Festa Junina being celebrated not only in her Catholic school but also in churches, malls, plazas and even on the side of the street.

Lumi Koroku Hissataka, a Japanese-Brazilian sophomore studying optical engineering, remembers celebrating Festa Junina in her elementary school in Brazil.

“I remember looking forward to Festa Junina (on the weekends) when I was in school,” Hissataka said.

She and her loved ones would celebrate at the Nippon Country Club, located 40 minutes outside the city of São Paulo.

“There were bonfires and games, pennant flags and even a mechanical bull,” she said.

Although she hasn’t experienced a Festa Junina in the north of Brazil, Hissataka still holds fond memories of dancing and playing games with friends.

São João is the most widely known Festa Junina holiday in the northeast of Brazil, with celebrations comparable in size to Carnival.

“Festa Junina is more wholesome and cultural than Carnival,” Hissataka said. “Festa Junina is a favorite of Brazilian people (as) it’s a staple … full of good memories as there are so many influences from different cultures.”

The Festa Junina event will run Friday from 4 to 5:30 p.m. on the east side of the Modern Languages Building and feature traditional food, dances and celebration.

“This event will create a bridge to not lose the old spirit (of Festa Junina),” Bezerra said. “This notion of community will open up the possibility to connect Brazilian roots to those who were born in Tucson with Brazilian parents (as first generation).”

Thatcher Warrick Hess is a graduate student in the University of Arizona's bilingual journalism program and and Tucson Spotlight intern. Contact him at twarrickhess@arizona.edu..

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