Bumba-meu-boi du Maranhão
Traditions · São Luís, Brésil
The festival
A dead beef and a resurrected one dancing: the Bumba-meu-boi of Maranhão is a total popular theatre, mixing tale, music, dance and crafts, inscribed in UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage in 2019. During the June and July season, about 100 groups invade the reirais (feastplaces) of São Luís and the whole State, each in its "sotaque", its own rhythmic style: matraca and its claquoirs, zabumba, orquestra, baixada or costa de mão.
The cycle follows a ritual in four stages: rehearsals, baptism of the beef (batizado), representations (brincadas) and then its symbolic death. Two appointments structure the season: the Festejo of São Pedro, on the night of 28-29 June, and the Encontro dos Batalhões of São Marçal, on the 30 June.
Good to know
Registered as an intangible cultural heritage of UNESCO in December 2019.