Do you know who brought the June festival to Brazil?

Let's start today's text with a quick question: do you know who brought the June festival to Brazil?

There's no denying that the June festivals are the face of Brazil, right? And it's no wonder that these festivals have become one of the biggest events of the year here in our country.

But despite many people loving these parties, almost no one knows for sure the origin of this celebration.

After all, do you know who brought the June festival to Brazil? That's what we're going to talk about here!

Throughout the text, you will learn a little more about the origin of this festival. In addition, we will also discover together who brought the festival to Brazil.

What is the origin of the June festival? 

Contrary to what most of us may think, the June festival itself is not a 'national treasure'.

Despite being the face of Brazil and having become a huge success, the June festivals were not necessarily created here. 

According to historians, the traditional festival known throughout the world – and even more popular in the Northeast region of our country – has origins far away from here.

Everything indicates that the June festivals are related to pagan festivities that originated in Europe.

According to the beliefs of that time, these festivals were celebrated with the aim of warding off evil spirits and any other problems that would affect the harvests of the next planting cycle.

So much so that these festivals were held to mark the passage from one season to another. In this case, they marked the end of spring and the beginning of summer.

This moment came to be called the summer solstice.

Despite having a pagan origin, these festivities ended up undergoing changes and adaptations when Christianity became the main religion in Europe.

And it was these changes that ended up causing the festivities to stop being associated with harvests and pagan deities and start being directly related to Christian figures.

So much so that, to this day, these celebrations focus on Saint Anthony (June 13), Saint John (June 24) and Saint Peter (June 29), three important religious figures in Christianity to this day.

Who brought the June festival to Brazil?

Now that you have discovered the origin of the June festival, it is time to talk more about who brought the June festival to Brazil.

After all, as we saw in the previous topic, this festivity originated in Europe, far away from here. So, who brought the June festival to Brazil?

The first steps of a June festival were taken here in the mid-16th century. 

And just like so many other traditions that we still have today, those responsible for bringing this festival here were the Portuguese while they were colonizing our country.

And an interesting fact about the beginning of the festival is that, as they were held to honor Saint John, the celebration was known as the Joanine festival, making a clear reference to the saint.

It was only after a certain time that the name of the festival changed to Festa Junina, thanks to the month in which it was held.

And with all this religious backdrop, it was no surprise that, for a long time, the June festival itself had a very religious bias.

In places where the tradition was stronger, it was possible to notice that this tone was quite present throughout the month.

But, as the years went by and the June festival became more popular, the religion gradually lost its religious aspect. 

And nowadays, despite there still being a religious tone in the most traditional celebrations – which, generally, are not celebrated in inland regions and rural areas of our country – the June festival has almost no connections or references linked to religion.

Could it be that the festival as we know it today is the same one created by those who brought the June festival to Brazil?

Of course, the version that arrived here in Brazil was very different from what we know today. 

As the years and generations passed, Brazilians began to add some aspects that, until then, were not part of the traditional festival.

Among the main – and most advantageous – additions of the Brazilian people to the June festivals are classics such as typical dances performed in groups – the famous square dances – and the extensive variety of typical foods that have become classics of the period.

The most popular are the foods that use corn as their main ingredient.

Among them are dishes such as curau, canjica, pamonha, cakes, popcorn, broths and even corn itself, whether boiled or roasted.

Another ingredient widely used in the preparation of June festival dishes is peanuts, used in sweets such as paçoca and pé de moleque, for example.

And to drink, the most typical drinks are the traditional mulled wine and hot wine.

Therefore, it can be said that the party itself is not ours, but we can safely say that Brazilians are the main people responsible for the changes that made the June festivals such a national success!

Conclusion

So, did you know that the tradition of June festivals does not originate here in Brazil?

Despite this, when it comes to the June festival, it is impossible not to praise the importance of the Brazilian people in popularizing this tradition.

It was thanks to the Brazilian people – especially the inhabitants of the Northeast region of Brazil, where the tradition of the June festival is even stronger than in the rest of the country – that the festival became so popular that it even became known in other countries.

Therefore, regardless of who brought the June festival to Brazil, we can be proud of this tradition and consider this festival one of the greatest treasures of our society.

Did you like this content? Then why not take advantage and read it too What is Thanksgiving and why don't we celebrate it in Brazil?