Century-old festival blends faith and culture in Pantanal

Known as the "june festival of the Pantanal," the Banho de São João celebration in Corumbá has taken place for over 100 years, uniting faith, culture, and local identity.

Held every year on June 23, the event has been recognized as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Brazil by the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (Iphan) since 2021.

According to Iphan, the celebration honors both Saint John the Baptist and the orixá Xangô, bringing together religious and Afro-Brazilian symbols.

The institute also helps oversee the event and coordinates public policies to ensure its continuation.

The festivities begin with novenas, prayers, and rituals held in people's homes.

The highlight is the descent of the Cunha e Cruz slope, where a decorated altar known as an andor is carried to the banks of the Paraguay River for the symbolic bathing of the saint’s image.

A central symbol of the festival, the andores, begin to be prepared as soon as the previous edition ends.

Each resident or family participating in the tradition plans and decorates their altar well in advance.

“It starts almost a month before. We begin thinking about it, and every four years, we create a script. For the past two years, we’ve been honoring the orixás, for example. So we started planning this about three months ago,” said writer and visual artist Marlene Mourão, who participates every year.

The andores are crafted in the homes of the celebrants, with help from friends and neighbors.

The structure is built from wood and adorned with flowers, lace, and ribbons, changing in theme each year.

In 2025, 111 celebrants were officially registered with the Corumbá Cultural Foundation.

“Every year, something new happens. São João always surprises us. No matter how much we prepare and plan, things happen according to his will,” said celebrant Alfredo Ferraz.

Beyond the religious celebration, Banho de São João includes traditional quadrilha and andor contests, the raising of the Saint John's mast, and folk dances like cururu and siriri.

The event draws residents and tourists from across the country and abroad, with special attractions, shows, and performances for the public.

The date is a municipal holiday in Corumbá, officially established by Law No. 2.986/2025.

The celebration and its organization involve people from various parts of the city, all working together to keep the tradition alive and pass it on to future generations.

In 2024, while the celebration was underway, an image taken by worshippers went viral online.

In the background, between the river and the festival, a wall of fire was seen consuming the Pantanal.

Fires that year devastated more than 2.6 million hectares of the biome.

Read more: https://pantanalagency.news/listing/fires-in-brazil-in-2024-burned-area-exceeds-historical-average-by-62/

“It was a tragedy, a very striking scene. We couldn’t believe that image. How could the Pantanal and all its biodiversity be going through that?” recalled Luciana Scanoni, a São João celebrant and anthropologist.

Even after the difficulties of the previous year, faith and tradition remain strong, as worshippers continue to descend the hill and bathe their saint in the river each year.