Parintins Folklore Festival

Parintins is a town of a hundred-odd thousand people on an island in the Amazon, and for three nights each June it stages a contest between two boi-bumba companies, Garantido in red and Caprichoso in blue, in the Bumbodromo, an arena built for the purpose and holding around thirty-five thousand. Each side gets two and a half hours a night to perform its version of the bull legend with enormous mechanical floats, hundreds of dancers, indigenous imagery and a full percussion battery. The town is divided down the middle by allegiance; even the Coca-Cola signage is blue on one side. Supporters of one side do not applaud the other, which is enforced by the scoring. It is the largest cultural event in the Brazilian interior outside Carnival.

What you actually see

• Two companies, three nights - Garantido in red against Caprichoso in blue.
• A purpose-built arena - the Bumbodromo holding around thirty-five thousand.
• Mechanical floats and hundreds of dancers - each side gets two and a half hours.
• A town split by colour - allegiance visible down to the shop signage.

When to go

Late June, the last weekend. Four days including travel.

Honest expectations

Beds in Parintins sell out months ahead and prices multiply; many people sleep on the boats. The riverboat from Manaus takes most of a day each way. Nights run until dawn. Applauding the wrong side is genuinely frowned on.

Nearby

Manaus is upriver; Santarem is downstream toward Belem.