The Bumba-meu-boi festival is a popular celebration in Brazil that has its epicenter in the northeast federal state of Maranhao. There, some 400 celebration groups are registered with the government (making them eligible for support). There are many more smaller celebration groups not registered but informally celebrating some part of the festival.
It is different from Carnaval in Rio, but it follows the religious calendar. Here are a few basics:
Carnaval in Rio and elsewhere is the pre-Lenten period of celebration, in the same religious calendar as Fasching in Germany and Mardi Gras in New Orleans. It is a highly stylized derivation of the samba with thousands of participants (originally associated with Rio neighborhoods) that culminates in a competition of groups at Rio’s Sambadromo (the outdoor amphitheater built specifically for that one night of the year).
The Bumba-meu-boi is also based in the religious calendar and in Maranhao it occurs during the “saints’ days” of June. The crucial period is the day of Saint John (Sao Joao) on the night of 23-24 June. Coming somewhat is the day of Saint Anthony of Padua (June 13), the day on which Ogun was celebrated in Salvador (see post on religious syncretism in Salvador).
After the day of Saint John the Baptist is June 28, the feast day of Saint Peter (Sao Pedro), beloved in Sao Luis because of its maritime history and reverence for the patron saint of fishermen and sailors. The June festival period officially concludes on the day of Saint Martial (Sao Marcal) on June 30. Sao Marcal is a lesser-known saint who was a 3rd century bishop of Limoges — his connection to Maranhao is not obvious, and he may be chosen because his birthday on June 30 provides another occasion for a festival and a procession closing the Bumba-meu-boi festival.
A few terms:
Bumba-meu boi (BmB): A “boi” is an ox, the central symbolic character (represented by a four-foot ox puppet that is the center of the narrative (known as the auto or comedia). The meaning of “bumba” is ambiguous and multivalent, but it seems most commonly to evoke the sound of the large frame drum (Zabumba).
Sotaque: An “accent” or rhythmic form of the Bmb. There are five, each originally based in a different region of Maranhao.
Batizado (baptism): In the older heritage practice, the ox is baptized on the evening on Sao Joao so that it can enter the street celebration as a sanctified “being” — that is, no longer a pagan. The batizado traditionally occurs on the eve of Saint John’s day with the ceremony culminating after midnight, Saint John’s birthday. On this day a new ox is unveiled and “danced” in the celebration of the saint. Because of the tradition of Brazilian syncretism, Saint John is also associated with other entities from indigenous and African-Brazilian practice. Thus, the batizado is practiced also in many houses of African-Brazilian spiritual worship.
The ox is a revered symbol of the performance and groups do not perform without one. Out of pride, groups baptize a new ox every year when they can afford it, but the highly embroidered skin may cost $2000, a significant sum for the groups and unattainable by the smaller groups in the interior. The couro above is done by Sao Luis’ most famous embroiderer, Dona Tania, and takes several months to craft.
The skin of the ox is often laden with Christian symbols, but also with evocations of African-Brazilian practice (e.g., Pombagira, Iansa/Saint Barbara, Iemanja or her representation as a mermaid, or Saint Benedict/”Preto Velho”). Another symbolism shown on a recent boi was that of Saint Cosme/Saint Damien — the twins of Catholic hagiography; in African-Brazilian practice they are often merged or syncretized with Ibeji, the holy twin orixas in Yoruba/Candomble practice.