Americans are used to the divide between red and blue, as in red state, blue state. But in Parintins, Brazil, on the Amazon, it has a whole different meaning. Every year at the end of June, Brazil’s third largest party, after Carnival in Rio and Salvador runs for three days in this Amazonian town or a bit over 100,000 people. The Bio Bomba Festival started with a retelling of a folk tale in which a cowboy’s pregnant wife. Katarina, has a craving for ox tongue. The cowboy (an enslaved person in early tellings) kills the ranchers prime bull to meet Katerina’s cravings. The rancher is incensed and threatens to kill the cowboy. The community gathers, enlists a shaman, and the bull is resurrected. At the end Katerina and the bull have a final, I guess you could call it, dance.

Different groups stage pageants reenacting this folk tale. In Parintins two different groups, the red team, Garantido, representing the poorer side of town, and the blue team, Carrapicho, representing the wealthier side. Both started their performances near the start of the 20th century during the feast of St. John. In the ‘60s the Catholic Church started a folk festival to raise money for a new cathedral. During the second year of the festival both Garantido and Carrapicio were invited to participate. They stole the show, literally. Now the festival is just these two teams, performing for three days in a purpose built a 35,000 seat stadium for a festival, that some purists say was “cannivalized” and commercialized. Each year a team is picked as the winner by a panel of judges and by the crowd reaction. The Festival is telecast live across Brazil.

It is a huge economic draw for Parintins and a big party. The town is split red and blue. Businesses try to accommodate both sides with their color schemes. During the festival Coke, depending on the year, produces both the traditional red and special blue cans. Some years they have bi colored cans. Outside the festival Coke just comes in red and Carrapicio purists need to content themselves with Pepsi.

During the cruise ship season along the Amazon, it is not a big season, there will only be six calls in 2026, the festival puts on a special show of just over an hour for the visitors as a fundraiser for the festival. The floats and presentations are fantastic, or perhaps I should say fanciful. There are guys jousting riding on fish, there is the grand entrance of a player on a pink dolphin and, the bull emerging from a heart and Katarina in an impossibly large hoop skirt flirting with the bull. After the show different dance schools also pass the hat, or tambourine to raise money to mount the show. Some people work on it all year making floats and costumes, and writing new songs for each year’s performance.

English teachers also bring their students and after the show, ask some of the passengers to have conversations with the students, that they record to analyze later. We enjoyed speaking with the kids, some of whom have learned well.

Here is a link to my post about this festival from 2015.

And some short video clips from the festival to give you an idea of the music and movement.