Recife reduces spending on June festivals by 60%.

Sumaia Villela, correspondent for Agência Brasil - The organization of the São João festivities in Recife, which takes place between June 16 and July 2, required creativity and the closure of festive venues to overcome this year's budget reduction. The city hall informed, this Tuesday (14), that R$ 4 million were allocated to the event, with a 60% reduction compared to the resources released last year (R$ 10 million).

Of the R$4 million, only R$500 are public funds. Traditionally, the city government contributed a larger amount than the sponsors. Last year, R$2 million came from private sources and R$8 million from public funds.

According to the president of the Recife Cultural Foundation, Diego Rocha, the city hall has adopted a series of strategies to maintain the São João festivities in the city, starting with reducing the number of locations where events are held. This year, there will be 41 "arraiais" (traditional June festivals), compared to the 64 held in 2015. Of the three main São João hubs, one was left out: the one at Praça do Arsenal, in Recife Antigo (Old Recife).

With a shorter celebration period than last year, the Sítio Trindade festival in Casa Amarela was maintained, with programming between the 17th and 26th of this month, and the Pátio São Pedro festival in the São José neighborhood, from the 27th to the 30th. On the 30th, São José even gives way to the orixá Xangô in the Festa do Fogo (Fire Festival), held in the courtyard.

Musicians from Paraíba

The number of contracted artists has also decreased. In 2015, there were 300 people, and this year, according to Diego Rocha, the number of artists will be between 100 and 200, including musicians from smaller community festivals. "But we haven't reduced any artist's fees. We also haven't given anyone a raise. The amounts will be the same as last year," Rocha stated.

Most of the musicians are from Pernambuco and live in the state. The exception is a few names from Paraíba – whose São João festival in the municipality of Campina Grande is considered the largest in the world.

According to Diego Rocha, administrative measures were also taken to reduce expenses for the June festivals. "We held a bidding process in advance. So, in the entire structure—stage, sound, bleachers, everything—we had reductions compared to the previous year." Even the decorations for the São João festival were reused so that the party wouldn't end, he said. "We repeated the design, so there were no costs associated with the design."

When questioned about the guarantee that this budget would be available for paying staff and infrastructure after the festivities, the manager indicated that this would be one of the objectives of the cost reduction. "Carnival has already been paid in full in relation to the artists, and the majority of the suppliers as well. We expect to do the same for São João."

Agenda

This year, Recife's São João festival honors two artists: Santanna, O Cantador, who played with Luiz Gonzaga and still pursues a career in forró music; and Dona Glorinha do Coco, an 81-year-old master of coco de roda (a traditional dance), whose birth name is Maria da Glória Braz de Almeida.

The festivities will open on Thursday night (16), with the 12th Forró Walk, which leaves from Rua da Moeda towards Praça do Arsenal, in Recife Antigo. Along the way, around 100 musicians will perform simultaneously.

In the following days, Sítio Trindade will host most of the attractions, with space for square dancing and traditional forró music. There will be 13 more street parties in various neighborhoods of the Pernambuco capital. The infrastructure and attractions are also guaranteed to support other traditional June festivals held by communities. The program also includes square dancing competitions, processions of June saints, theater, and a street decoration contest in Recife.