Boi Bumbá, the largest folk festival in the Brazilian Amazon

First modification: 07/27/2022 – 19:06

Currently, this popular festival celebrates a rivalry that began almost 100 years ago between two groups: the Caprichoso ox, who wears blue, and the Garantido ox, who has red as a hallmark of identity. Both used to present in the streets of Parintins the folklore of this festivity, based on the legend of Mother Catirina and Father Francisco, a couple of black peasants.

Legend has it that when Catirina became pregnant, she had an uncontrollable desire to eat the tongue of an ox. Eager to satisfy the will of his wife, Chico killed his farmer’s favorite ox, which flew into a rage. But a shaman managed to resurrect the ox thanks to his knowledge. The Boi Bumbá festival commemorates this miracle.

Today, the festival has become a very ambitious musical show, which for three days recreates the struggle between the Caprichoso ox and the Garantido ox through songs, percussion and dances inspired by indigenous legends. The gigantic allegorical figures are striking, full of references to the exuberant nature of the Amazon. They are built over three months and are able to move.

“It’s very complex because none of us artists are engineers. We do not study at the university, we are self-taught. We learned to carry out this entire process of building the allegorical figures in the Parintins sheds”, says Marialvo Brandão, artist of the Caprichoso ox.

Precisely because of this mobility, Parintins artisans are highly sought after at samba schools in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and even at carnivals in Uruguay.

This great open-air opera is performed for five hours a day at the Bumbódromo, an arena built 34 years ago especially for this show. “The festival has a strong indigenous theme and several tribal moments. There is also talk of ecology, the preservation of forests and the importance of indigenous people for our culture. The Parintins festival spreads our culture around the world”, says Gustavo Sampaio, president of the State Tourism Company of Amazonas (Amazonastur).

After two years without commemoration due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Parintins festival returned with more force to the Bumbódromo and concluded with the victory of the Caprichoso ox, which paid tribute to the journalist Dom Phillips and the indigenist Bruno Pereira, recently murdered in the Javarí Valley for fighting in favor of the Amazon.

The Boi Bumbá is an important source of income for Parantins, a city of 115,000 inhabitants that in the last edition attracted 66,000 tourists. This cultural event generates revenues of about 10 million dollars. This year, some 35,000 spectators per night attended the show vibrant with red or blue, in a true war of colors.