Festa de São João 2008

The Brazilian Student Association at the University of Georgia would like to invite the University and Athens community to participate in our 2nd Brazilian Country Festival. Festa de São João is a typical festival of the Northeast of Brazil in which the people pray to Saint John and Saint Pedro in thanks for the rains that come. The typical foods eaten during this festival are made of corn, because the annual corn harvest falls around this time. This festival usually features a re-enactment of a shotgun wedding, square dancing know as quadrilha in Portuguese, and people attending the festival usually dress as people from the country or rural areas known as caipiras in Portuguese.

This event is for a Brazilian charity that we have partnered with this past fall semester called CUICA. CUICA is an acronym that stands for Culture Inclusion Citizenship & the Arts, but is also the name of an Afro-Brazilian instrument commonly used in Brazilian music. This organization started in 2005 in the state of Santa Catarina in southern region of Brazil. This program teaches poor children in public schools how to play musical instruments and music in order to keep them off the streets, away from gangs, and drugs. In its first year, 300 children and adolescents were enrolled in the program, and it has now spread to more than 30 schools and aspires to spread to even more. CUICA is one of many programs across Brazil that uses music and the arts as a means of keeping children out of the streets while giving them a means for a brighter future.

Festa de São João will be on Friday, March 28th at 10:30pm, at Farm 255. Farm 255 is located at 255 West Washington Street, Athens, GA 30601. This event is only for those 21 and older. There is a door fee of $3 and all of it goes to CUICA. If you want to donate more, there will be donation jars located inside for you to place your donations in. We encourage everyone to come out and see a different side of Brazil than they know or have heard about all to support a good cause. CUICA is one of many amazing programs that are seeking to change the futures of poor children by giving them hope, courage, and the tools to succeed both academically and in life.

If you would like more information about CUICA and how you can help contribute to its cause, please contact us at bsa.uga@gmail.com.

Sincerely,

Zachary Cohen

Treasurer
Brazilian Student Association
zecharia@uga.edu