Today’s stop in Parintins was for one purpose only: to attend the Boi Bumbá Show. This show is done only for Cruise ships and is a smaller version of a huge festival put on in June of each year.

The celebration in June is held over three days and is the main celebration in this region (think Sturgis, South Dakota). The festival is held in a specially built arena called the Bumbódromo that holds 30,000 people and is divided into two sections for the supporters of each of two teams, the red and the blue. These teams compete to tell one of the local legends using singing, dancing, and amazing floats. Each team changes its show from year to year. The event is partially sponsored by Coca Cola and briefly each year, blue Coke cans are available. Apparently these are rather rare and difficult to find.

Today’s 45-minute show was held in their Convention Center, a renovated warehouse with seating for about 400. We were thrilled by the great music, dancing, colorful costumes, and high-energy performances from the cast the entire time (you get tired just watching them).

Great show!