The traditional festival of the Boi-Bumbá, in Parintins, resembles Carnival and is a not-to-be-missed tourist destination
The Bumba Meu Boi is a Brazilian folklore dance, recognized by Iphan - the National Artistic and Historical Heritage Institute as cultural heritage of the country. This typical party depicts the legend of the death and resurrection of an ox, mixing human and animal characters. Across the North and Northeast, it is revered and incorporates themes, forms, rhythms, instruments and various names.
Characteristic of Maranhão, the Bumba Meu Boi reached the Amazonas State under the nickname of "Boi-Bumbá." It’s during the Parintins Festival that the dance is showcased to tourists every year. The event, held since 1965 in the municipality of Parintins, always takes place on the last weekend of June. The outdoors festival comprise three nights of presentations, and the height of the show is the dispute between the allegorical Garantido (red) and Caprichoso (blue) bulls. The party is rocked by a musical genre called toada.
In the Bumbódromo - the name given to the traditional parade location - Garantido and Caprichoso appear in the legends, customs and indigenous rituals to promote the local culture. Since 1968, they perform fierce dispute between each other (the city is completely divided), with alternate titles to each side and two draws. Over the years, the Parintins Folklore Festival began to have a broader repercussion in the media, even being broadcast on TV.
Parintins is a town located next to Manaus and borders the State of Pará, in the Amazon region. It is the second most populous city of the Amazon. In 2015, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) estimated that the local population was approximately 112,000 inhabitants. Besides air transport, residents use the waterway to get there.