June Festival

História da Festa Junina e tradições

 Origin of the June Festival, history, traditions, celebrations, foods, fairs, dance the quadrille, a French,    Portuguese, Spanish and Chinese parties in the Northeast, the day of St. Anthony, St. John and St. Peter, the  sympathies of marriage and popular beliefs, music typical of the time, the balloons

  

                Origin of the June Festival
 There are two explanations for the term June Festival. The first explains that grew out of the festivities take place during the month of June. Another version says that this feast has its origins in Catholic countries of Europe and therefore would be in honor of St. John in the beginning, the party was called Ioannina.According to historians, this festival was brought to Brazil by the Portuguese, even during the colonial period (time when Brazil was colonized and ruled by Portugal).
 At that time, had a great influence of cultural elements Portuguese, Chinese, Spanish and French. From France came the dance set, typical of most noble and dances in Brazil, has greatly influenced the typical gang. Since the tradition of setting off fireworks came from China, the region where the manipulation would have arisen from the manufacture of gunpowder for fireworks. The Iberian peninsula would have been dancing ribbons, very common in Portugal and Spain.All these cultural elements were, over time, blending aspects of Brazilian cultural (indigenous, african-Brazilian and European immigrants) in the various regions of the country, taking particular features in each.
             Typical foods
As the month of June is the time of harvest of corn, much of sweets, cakes and pastries, related to the festivities, are made of food. Tamal, Curalava, corn, hominy, couscous, popcorn, corn cake are just some examples.In addition to recipes with corn, are also part of the menu this season: sweet rice cake, peanut, nut cake, bombocado, bread made from cornmeal, coconut, foot-boy, mead, mulled wine, sweet potatoes and more.
Traditions
The traditions are part of the celebrations. The month of June is marked by bonfires, which serve as a center for the famous dance gang. The balloons are also part of this scenario, although increasingly rare on the basis of laws that prohibit this practice, because of fire hazards they represent.In the Northeast, is still very common form groups revelers. These groups are walking and singing through the streets of cities. Go past the houses, where residents leave their windows and doors a lot of food and drinks to be enjoyed by the revelers.In the Southeast Region are carrying out traditional bazaars. These festivals are held by churches, colleges, unions and businesses. They have booths with ethnic foods and games to encourage visitors. The dance of the gang, usually occurs throughout the fair.As San Antonio is considered the matchmaker, the sympathies are common for single women who wish to marry. On June 13, the Catholic distribute the "bread of St. Anthony." Tradition has it that the blessed bread to be placed next to other supplies of the house, that never happens at fault. Women who want to get married, tradition says, should eat this bread.