Brazilian Day Festival

I don’t know why this is listed as «Greenwich Village.» It’s on 46^th St in Little Brazil in midtown…
Anyway I had no idea there were this many Brazilians in NY! It was mindblowing! I arrived around 12:30 and left around 230. There were a ton of food stands with things like fried ice cream, chicken/​beef/​vegetable doughy things, mozzarella-​stuffed pancakes, Brazilian crepes, smoothies, gyros, and more. There are also lots of stands with fake jewelry and cheap clothes. It was interesting to walk around and take in the culture and people’s collective passion for their country.
There was a concert going on with some singers that I presume are well-​known among Brazilians. The music was fun to listen to! There was a long line to wait on if you wanted to enter the dance section of the concert but you could hear it all over the festival. Up 6^th Ave, there were stands of companies whom I presume were the sponsors. There was a man walking around with a snake offering people to take photos with it for $ 10… there was a statue of Pele– awesome. The people were mostly Brazilian but there were definitely other kinds of people there so I didn’t feel out of place at all.
Overall, I really enjoyed exploring the culture and being a part of this. Think I’ll stop by in the coming years!

All I have to say is WoW!
This event was so much fun, all the fried food, caipirinhas, and exotic lovely ladies made this festival thee highlight of my labor day weekend. There were so many small groups of musicians each performing in little circles creating dancing, fun, and happiness amongst the thousands of people filling up 6^th avenue.
The local food and real culture could really be found on 46^th st east of 6^th ave. West of 6^th was pretty lame. A few Brazilian restaurants and mexican bars too helped liven the experience. I really felt like I was at a carnival type of experience at this festival. It was awesome.

One of the great things about living near New York City is the mish mash of multiple cultures. The Brazilian Day Festival (BDF) is one of the ample opportunities to familiarize with another culture. Normally, I do not like to attend festivals due to the long waits and crazy amounts of people. But I went to the BDF for two reasons. One, my girlfriend is Brazilian and I wanted to see what Brazilians are like when they are clustered together. Two, I didn’t think there would be that many Brazilians at this festival.
We got to the West side at around 47^th street and found parking at around 12:30pm. The festival stretched from 5^th to 7^th avenue on 46^th street and from 43^rd to central park on 6^th avenue (picture a cross). There were plenty of kiosks and stands selling food, clothing, spirituality, and etc. There were also samba dancers strutting their stuff in the middle of the street.
There are four things I learned about Brazilians…
1) Their food is great. Actually, I’ve always liked their food (my gf is an excellent cook) but this time I tried food from Bahia (acaraje) and some tapioca dish that was fantastic.
2) They like to dance and sing. The main attractions were Jorge Ben, Lulu Santos, and Banda Eva. Nearly everyone knew the songs being played and there were crowds of people singing along and dancing. The scene was not unlike music festivals like Coachella or Jersey City Festival except Brazilians were dancing and smiling.
3) I was wrong about the number of Brazilians in NYC. There were so many of them! It was quite difficult to maneuver through the streets, long waits for popular food stands, and nearly impossible to get near the stage to hear the concert.
4) Brazilians really know how to have fun. While the main attraction was the stage presence of the aforementioned bands, there were stages on the side streets playing different styles of music (techno, forro, bossa nova, samba, etc.) that people were equally enjoying.
Of course, I cannot forget the fact that Brazilian women are gorgeous. There were so many beautiful women that I’m surprised my gf didn’t punch me in the face for ogling so much. Anyways, the ambiance was so fun and exciting that it draws you in. I felt like Marge when she’s in the middle of Carnival, worrying about Homer while dancing at the same time due to the infectious environment. I may go again next year, but only if my favorite Brazilian Djavan plays music.