The articles written by the PÚBLICO Brasil team are written in the variant of the Portuguese language used in Brazil.
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I was born in a place where the relationship with Our Lady is so strong that she is a member of our home. He is Naza, Nazinha, Nazoca, Nazarezinha or Our Lady of Nazareth. On the second Sunday of October, we all get together to thank her and ask her for everything we want as a goal in life or happiness. Nazinha is a friend, mother, sister, companion and confidant.
14 years ago, I started Varanda de Nazaré, on the eve of the Círio. I decided to open a space in Belém do Pará to show people who are not from there our faith, a happy faith, which brings together and is inclusive. I invite people, from the most diverse, to understand the way of being of the people of Pará, showing the cuisine, humor, music, devotion, crafts, the peculiarities of a very interesting and playful people.
In 2025, COP30, the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, the so-called Time Summit, will take place in Belém. It will be a very important moment to take a look at the North, the Amazon and my people. This year we will hold the 2nd Varanda da Amazônia Forum. An event that has brought together Varanda de Nazaré and the Amazon Forum since 2023.
We will meet on October 8th and 9th at Teatro Maria Sylvia Nunes, in Belém do Pará. There will be two days of debates with experts, academics, historians, authorities and representatives of original peoples. Let’s discuss the challenges and opportunities of the Amazon region. A place where we will have a face, thoughts and voice.
The people need to be heard so that our Amazon, our country and the world can be balanced. I look at events held outside Belém, outside Brazil, and I see us represented as caricatures. As exotic beings for an elite audience, where thinking is always white and the Amazonian thinker does not exist.
On Thursday, the 10th, my guests will experience the other side of Guajará Bay. Let’s anchor and dive into the river. There will be a fish roast with açaí freshly prepared, a caipirinha with local fruits and a guitar. On the boat return to Belém, we will enjoy the sunset with the Guamá River as a backdrop.
On Friday, the 11th, we will have the Soiree da Fafá. Time to sing for the guests with a beautiful, well-rehearsed band. Our music is classical, it is carimbó, samba, chorinho and brega. All this with the great gastronomy of Pará with chefs and great cooks.
Saturday morning is the time for the river procession. We go by boat, like all river dwellers. We go to Icoaraci with the image of Our Lady of Nazaré. On the way back, we stopped at the steps. Nazinha steps down from the Navy frigate and is named and sworn in as head of state. It continues in an open car, in a pilgrimage with more than 50 thousand motorcycles. It passes through the Basilica and is the signal for the original to come down from the Glória, the main altar, and be raised for its faithful.
At night, we received our guests and friends, as is done in families in Pará. Time to pray, watch, ask and thank Our Lady of Nazareth with faith. We will watch the candlelight procession called trasladação, which goes from the Gentil Bittencourt school to the Belém Cathedral, in the old city.
Sunday, at seven in the morning, we are there, to see her pass, powerful queen, queen of the Amazon, of the waters and of the people of my land. In the procession of almost three million people, the largest procession in the world. All are welcome under the mantle of Our Lady.
We will continue as long as possible and then, of course, I will pass it on to my daughter or one of my granddaughters to carry on this legacy. Always looking at the people of my state, at the people of the Amazon. They are the ones we have to look at, embrace and shine a light on without being seen. There is no point in any other movement, as nothing will be as we imagine, and the solutions may not even be close to what we need. Happy Círio, long live Our Lady of Nazaré!
Your Fafazinha, with lots of love!
