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It was a rainy, humid April night in the Brazilian Amazon when I stepped off my ship in Parintins and entered the world of Caprichoso and Garantido, a world of red and blue.  A world where red and blue are competing against each other in a  fantastic performance of music, dance, chanting, fireworks, singing, beautiful  young people in dazzling costumes, and beating of drums.  We had been sailing for almost 2 weeks, first through the Caribbean, then into the Atlantic   But this was the highlight of the cruise, sailing on the mighty and legendary Amazon river. The Amazon, second largest river in the world with the world’s most diverse ecosystem, and home to a variety of Indian tribes,  is also home to modern cities where people have cell phones and computers.  But they retain a deep attachment to the indigenous culture that surrounds them.

One of the dancers at the performance

But now we had arrived in Parintins (pop. 80,000) a city of magic and mystery  located on the right bank of the Amazon river on the island of Tupinambarana about  420 km (261 miles) east of Manaus.   Parintins is a bustling city with busy shops, a beautiful cathedral and many motorcycles, bicycles, and scooters.    The people take an immense pride in their city and their festival.  The “Festival Folclórico de Parintins” takes place the last three days of June every year.  It is held in the Bumbódromo, the huge  purpose built stadium that holds 40,000 spectators. For six hours  each night there is the incredible spectacle of singing, dancing, beating of the drums, chanting, fireworks, giant floats and decorations.  This is a huge festival incorporating some of the legends, rites, and rituals of the indigenous people of the Amazon forest. The songs and dances are conceived and worked on in Parintins during the year, and everything, including the floats and costumes, is made locally.The artistic creativity of the people of Parintins is well known throughout Brazil, and this festival is now almost a rival in popularity to Rio’s famous Carnival. 

For the tourists, a small 2 hour sampling of this astonishing festival is given throughout the year. From the ship, we went to see the 2 hour performance. The local people were delighted to see us and wanted to practice their English with us.  I noticed some teenage girls wearing T-shirts that said “English School”.  Curious, I walked up to Gláucia, her cousin Ynessa, and their friends Paola and Simone and started talking to them.  They were students at the English School, which is an English language school run in the town by Catarina Picanço , or as she would later tell me “they call me Kathy”.  The girls studied with Kathy three times a week in her one room school  equipped with a video, computer, and air conditioning.  These classes were supplemental to the English classes they took in their regular school.

The girls told me about the performance I was about to see.  I learned that there is an intense but goodhearted rivalry in the whole town during the festival.  The performance revolves around the story of the killing and resurrection of a bull.  There are two teams telling the story in music, dance, and song.   Gláucia, with her brilliant smile told me she is the fan of Caprichoso, the blue bull, and her cousin  Ynessa is a fan of the red bull called Garantido.  We had a good laugh about the cousins’ rivalry.  The girls, their teacher Kathy, and I would become very good friends.
 

My friend, Glaucia, whom I met along with her friends and cousin at the performance.

The performance was spellbinding.  We were amazed at what we were seeing.  The drums, dancing, and costumes were like nothing we had ever seen before.  And this was just a small sampling of what takes place every year on June 28, 29, and 30, a festival that has been described as “an outdoor opera in the middle of the Amazon forest”  This is a big celebration of the indigenous culture of the people of the Amazon. The performance tells the basic story of a young peasant couple, Catirina and Francisco.  Catirina being pregnant has a craving for the tongue of a bull.  Francisco kills his master’s favorite bull, cuts out the tongue and gives it to his wife to eat.  Scared that his master would have him killed for this, he asks the local priest for help.  The priest brings the bull back to life with much drama, spectacle, drumming and fireworks, and Francisco’s life is spared. The story has evolved over the years, and now the play incorporates many Amazonian legends and myths.  The church priest is now an Indian sorcerer and the story takes place inside the forest. Amazon animals,  forest gods, and the shamans all have their parts to play. One of the legends is of an enchanted boy named Norato who became an enormous snake when he grew up.  At night he left his snake’s body and became a man.  He was well loved and had many friends in the forest, but at dawn Norato transformed into a snake again.  He could only become a man at night.  Many shamans and others tried to help him break the spell but nobody ever could.  They say that Norato is still roaming the rivers of the Amazon.  The great snake legend comes from the real huge snakes like anacondas that live in the Amazon region.

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Even the beautiful giant water lilies of the Amazon river have a legend.  This one is about an Indian girl from one of  the Amazon tribes who falls in love with a warrior who lives on the moon.  When the moon was full she tired hard to reach the warrior.  Her friends tried to convince her that this was hopeless, but she wouldn’t stop hoping.  Then one night deep in the forest she saw a reflection of the moon in a lake.  Thinking her loved one had come to earth at last, she jumped into the lake and drowned. But the warrior did exist.   Taking pity on the poor girl who had fallen in love with him, he transformed her into the giant water Lilly, known as Vitória-Régia ).  These legends and many others are always part of the show.
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The competition between the two rival bulls, Caprichoso (the blue bull) and Garantido (the red bull)  is before a panel of judges who will judge each team on its singing, dancing, costumes, and the chanting of their fans.  Yes, the fans have a big part to play. The fans of Caprichoso sit on one side of the stadium and the fans of Garantido on the other.  Each side of the stadium is awash in either blue or red.  When the blue team is performing, their fans are chanting and making a lot of noise and vice versa.  The other side must stay silent during the rival team’s performance. The judges will take into account the enthusiasm of the fans in making their decision. The island at this time is surrounded by many boats of the tourists who have come for the festival. The whole town and the tourists are caught up in the spirit of the festival.  They dance in the streets during the day and go to the Bumbódromo  for the performances at night.  Everyone roots for  either the blue bull or the red.

From left to right....Glaucia, me, Paola, Ynessa (at the performance)

Returning to the ship and leaving Parintins was hard to do.  I haven’t made it back to Parintins in June for the big festival yet, but I’m determined to do this in the near future. The girls, Kathy and I stayed in touch through the years. We are all now very close friends.

Each June when the festival is on, Gláucia asks me, “Are you red or blue?  Do you want Caprichoso or Garantido to win?”  I haven’t committed to either one yet!!!

The following article is the first article Rita wrote for the magazine:

Long Way From Florida ~ The Isle Of Skye, Scotland

To contact Rita Click Here
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