Festa Junina

A shot gun wedding for 3rd graders? Bizarre, huh? The traditional Festa Junina is just that. According to Brazilian folklore a woman shows up for her wedding very pregnant; in turn, the husband-to-be tries to escape the nuptiuals only to be chased by the father-of-the-bride and forced to say "I do." Strange? I'd say.
On top of that, the traditional attire for this festival is that which can be described as Hillbilly attire. Boys place patches on their pants, wear straw hats and flannel shirts and chew on grass. The girls are donned with what I see as "Laura Ingals Wilder" style dresses, lots of gingham and plaid and pigtails. Sierra opted for this yellow, blue and red traditional Festa Junina dress but skipped the pig tails.

The children performed a "mock wedding" according to the folklore and then danced and promenaded as if celebrating the newlyweds.






The dancing reminds me of traditional square dancing in the U.S. The lower school PE teacher was responsible for teaching the kids the dance, and he shared with me during lunch last week that Sierra's class was a really fun group to work with because they were all very interested in learning exactly how to do it, and they weren't worried about which boy/girl they had to dance with.
This particular celebration lasts the month of June in Brazil and often Festa Junina parties are still happening in July.