The Birds are in Brazil to take on the Green Bay Packers in São Paulo Friday night, in the NFL’s first-ever game in South America. The contest has been mired in some controversies, including:
That said, if you’re tuning in to the game to root for Eagles and finding yourself feeling FOMO that you couldn’t make the trip, or yearning for more Brazilian culture, you don’t have to look too far. Philly’s local annual celebration of Brazilian culture is this weekend.
The 11th year of Brazilian Day Philadelphia will be at Spruce Street Harbor Park this Sunday, from 1 to 7 p.m. The event is organized by Center City-based Project Capoeira, which teaches and preserves the Brazilian martial art that incorporates dance, acrobatics, live traditional music, and spirituality.
The practice originated in Brazil back in the 1500s as a way for enslaved Africans and Indigenous people to practice fighting without alarming their oppressors. It was criminalized after slavery was abolished in the late 19th century and legalized in the 1930s. It was given UNESCO cultural heritage status in 2014.
Project Capoeira’s mission is to use capoeira “as a vehicle to promote other Brazilian arts and to preserve Brazilian culture in Greater Philadelphia.”
Brazilian Day Philadelphia is free and part of PECO’s Multicultural Series. The outdoor festival includes Brazilian cuisine, art, and music to celebrate the nation’s independence day and its cultural contributions to Philly.
A large part of that culture, like every culture, is its food. If you want to sample Brazilian cuisine in the city, this weekend or at any time, Project Capoeira secretary Hannah Wood recommends the restaurants on Castor Avenue in Northeast Philly, which she called the Brazilian community’s “Main Street.”
The Brazilian Day Philadelphia Series leading up to Sunday also includes:
- Thursday: Capoeira Roda (the circle of musicians, capoeiristas, and spectators that form for the traditional capoeira session) from 6 to 8 p.m. at Project Capoeira’s cultural center at 1213 Race St.
- Friday: A Brazil flag-raising ceremony at City Hall, at 2 p.m., followed by another roda at the cultural center from 6 to 8 p.m.
- Saturday (Brazil’s Independence Day): The ASCAB Capoeira (the American Society of Capoeira and Arts from Brazil) Aqui Tem Rei Batizado event at Lloyd Hall Rec Center from 1 to 7 p.m. This will include rodas and workshops with guests from around the country and the world.
Enjoy the event — but don’t forget to cheer on the Eagles Friday night. Even better, do it in Portuguese. Project Capoeira’s artistic and executive director Adenilson Dos Santos — who was born in Brazil — provided a couple phrases should shout, oh, 300 times Fidaty night.
“Vai Pássaro” (“Go Eagles”)
“Voa Águia voa” (“Fly Eagles Fly”)
