juninas

Juninas, or festas juninas, are traditional Brazilian festivals held during June and early July. They are celebrated across the country, with particular intensity in the Northeast, and are associated with the feast days of three Catholic saints: Saint Anthony (June 13), Saint John the Baptist (June 24), and Saint Peter (June 29). The celebrations blend religious observance with rural, harvest, and folk traditions.

The origins of juninas lie in a mixture of Catholic rites and regional agricultural customs brought by European, African, and Indigenous communities. The festivals commemorate the corn harvest and the changing seasons, and they have grown to include secular entertainment alongside religious elements.

Common features include the layout of temporary event spaces called arraiás, decorated with colorful banners, paper decorations, and straw or wood structures. Attire often resembles traditional rural dress, with women wearing long, ruffled skirts and blouses and men in plaid shirts, jeans, and straw hats. Food and drink centers on corn-based dishes such as pamonha, canjica, curau, and milho cozido, as well as sweets like pé de moleque and paçoca. Warm beverages such as quentão (hot spiced wine) and vinho quente are popular. Music and dance are central, with performances of forró, baião, xote, and especially quadrilha, a structured group dance that imitates a rural wedding.

Regional variations exist, but juninas are widely celebrated in urban and rural communities alike, often through school festivals, neighborhood events, and municipal celebrations, reflecting both cultural heritage and contemporary enjoyment.