BY COLE SINANIAN
ASTORIA — The smells of succulent Brigadeiro, rich, savory bowls of Feijoada and cheesy chunks of Pão de Queijo filled 31st Avenue on September 5, and if you don’t know what these things are, mark your calendars for next year’s BrasilFest, a brand new festival celebrating Brazilian independence and culture right in the heart of Astoria’s liveliest commercial district.
The festival, billed as a spiritual successor to the now-defunct Brazilian Independence Day Parade, is the creation of 23-year-old lifelong Brazilian-Astorian, Maria Teresa Furtado, who organized the festival to honor the neighborhood’s Brazilian heritage and celebrate the joy of Brazilian culture.
“People have come here to find a better life, they were driven out by circumstances,” Furtado said.“But that doesn’t mean you have to be sad. We are so happy, and that makes you want to be alive. It’s good for your mental health.”
The festivities Saturday began at 2pm and lasted until sundown. Throughout the afternoon, scenes more commonly seen on Rio’s Copacabana Beach or in the streets of Sao Paulo unfolded along 31st Ave: Painted faces, countless neon-yellow “Brasil” crop tops, a welcoming mix of English and Brazilian Portuguese, smiling partiers of all ages clutching caipirinhas or cups of acai as they clapped, jumped and swayed their hips to the sounds of the forro, samba and bossa nova music. Meanwhile, a man with a giant yellow python around his neck wandered through the dense crowd, offering up his snake for pictures. Several street soccer games erupted, as well as at least one game of Altinha — a Brazilian beach soccer game that involves using one’s legs to keep the ball in the air.
“Seeing a dance circle like that is extremely Brazilian, and then obviously the two soccer circles seemingly happening— it’s just like Copacabana,” said John Surico, Chair of the 31st Avenue Open Streets Collective, an organization that helped run the event.
“We want the open streets to reflect the culture of Astoria and there’s really no better way to do that than Brazil Fest, given that this is such a huge Brazilian community,” he added.
Furtado explained that the festival was inspired by her childhood nostalgia for the Brazilian Independence Day Parade in Manhattan, a tradition that did not survive the pandemic.
“It ended and it made me feel bad for all the kids who would never experience that,” Furtado said. “Someone had to do something, so I was like, I’ll do it.”
It is no coincidence that Furtado — whose parents hail from the Brazilian states of Pernambuco and Minas Gerais — grew up in Astoria. The neighborhood was historically one of the largest Brazilian enclaves in New York City, with over 2,000 Brazilian residents counted in the 2000 census, though it’s hard to say whether that count is still accurate, 26-years later.
Still, with Brazilian restaurants serving succulent cuts of meat and rich bowls of Feijoada — a pork and black bean stew considered to be Brasil’s national dish — dotting the Astoria streetscape, the neighborhood is a natural fit for the city’s newest celebration of Brazilian culture and independence, which is observed September 7.
“We’re in Queens,” Furtado said. “We are here, so the party will come to us. We’re not gonna travel for it.”
Furtado and her team, which includes her mother, best friend, and boyfriend, received support from a slate of Brazilian local businesses that sponsored the festival, including Andrea’s Homemade, a Bouquet of Flours, Bahia Taste, Cicada da Moninha, Drinks dda 021, Helton Cakes, Minas Bites, Feijoada do Léo, Oxente Food, Queijjo Mel, Tropero de Minas, Casa Grande Salon, Bodega Wine & Spirits, Didi’s Thrift, Madu Moreira, Motumba Soap&Soul, and Arantes Nascimento Soccer, among others.
