Festa Junina Livestream w/ En Canto & Xaxado Mission

Join two of the West Coast’s best Brazilian forró bands, En Canto and Xaxado Mission, in an exuberant celebration of Festa Junina (June Festival)! Second only to Carnival, Festa Junina is a national Brazilian holiday, marking the end of the rainy season and hailing the rural life, the ripening of corn—the harvest! At a Festa Junina party, you’ll see brightly colored flags, you’ll smell roasting corn and peanuts, and you’ll see people dancing to forró, the upbeat “country music” of Brazil.

Forró music first developed on the farms and plantations in northeast Brazil, where farmers created songs about their daily lives. The traditional musical instruments of forró speak to its multicultural origin: the zabumba (Afro-Brazilian drum), and the accordion and the triangle (from European immigrants). This unique mix of African-European instruments, along with an upbeat rhythm, gives forró a striking similarity to Cajun music.

In the past few decades, forró music and dancing have exploded in popularity, with forró bands and dancers flourishing throughout North America, Europe, Russia, Oceania, and Japan. In 2019, over 70 international forró festivals were held outside of Brazil.

For Festa Junina, En Canto (Seattle) and Xaxado Mission (San Francisco) will serve up a rich forróbodo—“fun without limits”! En Canto, a seven-piece orchestra, features twin accordions, as well as bass, drums, piano, and flute. The band brings music flavored with the jazz backgrounds of its musicians, while staying true to the driving rhythms of forró. Xaxado Mission preserves the traditional forró trio—zabumba, accordion, and triangle—producing an irresistible “heartbeat” of syncopation that draws all ages onto the dance floor! Both bands pay tribute to classic and contemporary forró music, including songs by Luiz Gonzaga, Mestrinho, Sivuca, and others.
Vamos! Let’s go!