This Friday (17) the São Paulo State Immigration Museum opens the 26th edition of the Festa do Imigrante. The event celebrates the different peoples who, in recent centuries, participated in the construction of Brazil. There will be representatives from 43 nations, including Palestine, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt.
The last edition, 2020, was held virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This year, the party will be in person. According to the organization, health protocols will be respected, including the requirement for proof of vaccination at entry.
The full calendar is on the website. This Orientalíssimo blog is particularly interested in programming that involves the Arab community. Brazil, which received multitudes of immigrants from the Middle East as of 1870, today has the largest Arab diaspora in the world.
On Friday at 12pm, there will be a performance by the Syrian-Palestinian band Nahawand. On Saturday at 11:30 am, there will be more Palestinian music, and a presentation by a group of Arab countries is scheduled for 1:00 pm. On Sunday, the event features Moroccan music at 11:30 am and Lebanese dancing at 1:30 pm.
The Immigrant Festival will also serve food from a varied menu in countries, including Egypt, Palestine and Syria. On Friday at 4 pm, a gastronomic workshop will teach how to prepare the grape cigar, traditional in the Levante region.
The event takes place from December 17th to 19th from 10am to 6pm. It is necessary to buy a ticket, which costs R$ 10. There is the option of half ticket for teachers and seniors. The Immigration Museum is located at 1316 Visconde de Parnaíba street, in the city of São Paulo.
For those who prefer to stay at home, this Orientalíssimo blog has another suggestion: the virtual exhibition Brazil-Lebanon +140 years, which celebrates the Lebanese presence in Brazil. The event was conceived by Lody Brais, president of the Associação Cultural Brasil-Lebano. Roberto Khatlab, from Brazil, also participated, director of the Center for Studies and Cultures of Latin America at the Saint-Esprit de Kaslik University of Lebanon.
According to the Brazil-Lebanon news agency, the virtual exhibition includes maps, photographs, stamps and federal lottery tickets issued on commemorative dates for the Lebanese presence in Brazil. There is also a sculpture in the shape of a map of Brazil with the cedar of Lebanon inside, representing the welcome to Levantine migrants at the end of the 19th century.
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