Parintins Folklore Festival
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Parintins Folklore Festival (Festival Folclórico de Parintins) is a popular annual celebration held in the Brazilian city of Parintins, Amazonas. It is the second-largest annual festival in Brazil; only the Carnival festivities in Rio de Janeiro draw more participants.
Often called Festival do Boi-Bumbá Bumba Meu Boi or simply Festival, the event takes place during three days in late June. The festival celebrates a local legend about a resurrected ox. Two teams, Garantido and Caprichoso, compete in extended retellings of the story, each team attempting to out-do the other with flamboyant dances, singing, and parade floats. Each nightly performance is largely based on local Amazonian folklore and indigenous culture, but also incorporates contemporary Brazilian rhythms and themes.
Despite the importance of the celebration to the Amazon region of Brazil, Festival was not widely known in other parts of the country until the musical group Carrapicho released the hit Bate forte o tambor in 1996.
It is also the only place in the world where Coca-Cola ads are in blue.