Festa Junina

Every June, tens of millions of Brazilians fill town squares strung with paper lanterns for Festa Junina, a celebration widely considered the country's second most significant traditional festival after Carnival itself. Rooted in European Midsummer traditions brought over during colonisation, the festival was adapted over generations into something distinctly Brazilian, honouring three Catholic saints while drawing deeply on the country's agrarian, rural heritage.

Food sits at the very centre of the celebration, and specifically corn, harvested right at the start of June. Dishes like pamonha (sweet corn paste wrapped in husks), canjica (a creamy corn and milk dessert) and quentão (a hot spiced drink with ginger, cinnamon and cachaça) appear at gatherings across the country, alongside bonfires, the quadrilha folk dance performed in pairs telling a mock love story, and communities dressed in exaggerated 'country' costumes — plaid shirts, straw hats and painted-on freckles.

The festival is especially prominent in Brazil's northeastern states, particularly Bahia and Pernambuco, though celebrations of some form take place virtually everywhere in the country throughout the month, making it one of the most genuinely nationwide food-centred traditions in Brazil's calendar.