June in Brazil is a month characterized by popular parties all over the country. These parties are historically related to the pagan celebrations of the summer solstice (around 24th of june) that were christened during the middle ages as "Saint John's parties)
Although related to summer celebrations in the northern hemisphere, June is the beggining of winter in the south. People gather around great fires (reminiscent of the pagan parties), generally in churches courtyards. Fireworks are displayed, to "awaken Saint John". A pole is assembled, with 3 flags on top, a metaphore for the 3 saints related to june celebrations.
People dress in costumes (nothing that relates to carnival) that pay homage to the simple people of the farms: men wear checked fleece shirts, old ragged jeans and simple boots, women dress in simple cotton dresses, generally with tacky patterns. During the celebrations a quadrilha is formed, in which couples perform a coreographed dance. Generally the couple that starts the dance are dressed as bride and groom (again, with poor fabric clothes) and the dance ends with a mock wedding.
Around the church courtyard where the pole is erected and the dance happens, lots of little huts are build to offer (free) or sell (for very low prices) typical food and beverage. There are games for the children and kids, charity huts (selling antiques) and the profit goes to the churches charities.
This post explaining the Junine celebrations (Festas juninas) opens a series os posts in which I'm going to detail the food we usually eat in June.
Remember, June is Brazil is winter and therefore the next recipes are better served in autumn.
If you want to know more, check the wikipedia entry.
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