This cultural festival, which today is one of the biggest regional festivals in Brazil, officially started in 1965. Since then, the event has been repeated every June. This year, the ballad took place between the 28th and 30th of June. The name of the party comes from the place where it takes place – the island of Parintins, on the banks of the Amazon River, 420 kilometers from Manaus. The festival stems from a rivalry that began almost a hundred years ago, when two large groups – the “bois” – began to represent the folklore of the boi-bumbá, a northeastern variation of the bumba-meu-boi in the streets of Parintins. With costumes, songs and allegories, the oxen enact the legend of Catirina, a farmer who was pregnant and wanted to eat ox tongue. To satisfy her, her husband, Negro Francisco, sacrifices the boss’s favorite ox, who threatens to kill the poor guy. Who saves everything is a shaman, who resurrects the horned man and guarantees a happy ending. The first bull to represent this story was Garantido, founded in 1913. Nine years later, in 1922, the Galante bull appeared, renamed Caprichoso in 1925. for being very popular and maintaining the traditional rhythm of typical songs. Caprichoso, adept at blue, is the “elite ox” and has more up-tempo and modern songs. In the beginning, the dispute was informal and took place in the center of the city. The thing became a super production comparable to the parades of the samba schools in Rio in 1988 with the construction of the “bumbódromo”, a mega-arena where the presentations took place. In the three nights of dispute, the show attracts 100 thousand people.
Legend of the boi-bumbá sustains the dispute between the groups Caprichoso and Garantido
THE TWISTS
The fans of each ox occupy half of the bumbódromo and actively participate in the parade. When your ox is in the arena, it’s worth perfecting the choreography and animation to guarantee points in the parade. When it’s the opposite ox’s turn, total silence. If an opponent boos, your bull loses a point.
THE PARTICIPANTS
Around 3,500 members of each ox parade each night, divided into 30 “tribes” — the equivalent of the wings of a samba school. The highlights are the standard-bearer, which bears the symbol of the ox, and the cunhã-poranga, which represents the most beautiful Indian of the tribe.
THE ARENA
In the shape of a stylized bull’s head, the “bumbódromo”, the show’s arena, holds 35,000 people. Only 5% of tickets are sold, at prices between 250 and 330 reais. The rest of the tickets are given away for free to supporters of the oxen
THE JURY
The winning ox each year is decided by a group of nine judges, generally specialists in anthropology and folklore. They evaluate 21 items, such as the presenter’s performance, rhythm of the drums, evolution of the boi-bumba and the beauty of the allegories
THE DURATION
Each ox parades for three nights, in presentations lasting two and a half hours — each day, the allegories and wings change. The choreographies of each ox are rehearsed for six months in the so-called “currals”, the equivalent of the samba school courts.
THE HOST
Each ox has a presenter or “master of ceremonies”, who narrates with a microphone each step of the plot developed with the wings and allegories. This year, the ox Caprichoso brought a 17-year-old presenter, who is the brother of the master of ceremonies at Garantido
THE COLORS
People from Amazonas take seriously the rivalry between Caprichoso and Garantido, expressed mainly in the colors. Jurors use green pens to avoid doubts about impartiality. At the party, there’s even blue Coca-Cola for Caprichoso fans!
THE ALLEGORIES
As in Rio’s carnival, the allegories are cars pushed by about 300 people. The show is grandiose: the gigantic representations of characters of the ox-bumbá are between 35 and 40 meters long and 12 meters high.
THE SONGS
In Rio, each school presents a unique samba-enredo. In Parintins, each ox sings from 15 to 22 toadas — typical short songs with a simple melody about the legend of the boi-bumbá. To accompany the lyrics, each ox has a battery of 400 to 600 musicians
GUARANTEED OX
COLORS – Red and white
WHEN DID IT APPEAR – 1913
TITLES – 24
CAPRICIOUS
COLORS – Blue and white
WHEN IT APPEARED – 1925
TITLES – 16