Festa da Uva () is a celebration of Italian heritage and culture held biennially in Caxias do Sul,

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...

, in southern

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. The Festa da Uva is held in February of every even-numbered year. During the Festa da Uva, the Caxias do Sul pavilions host attractions mainly from South America, but also from other regions of the world. Visitors taste

cheese Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...

, grapes and various

ian

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

s. The large crowds also draw independent vendors who promote local-themed products from the southern gaúcho state. The Festa hosts parades that process through the city nightly. A Rainha (Queen) and two Princesas (Princesses) are chosen after competition in a

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition in which the contestants are judged and ranked based on various physical and mental attributes. Per its name, beauty pageants traditionally focus on judging the contestants' physical attractiveness, sometimes sol ...

to reign over the Festa. A queen was first selected for the Festa da Uva in 1933.

History

The Festa da Uva first started in 1931 as a harvest festival. The

harvest Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...

in Brazil falls in February/March since the country is in the Southern Hemisphere. Colonel Miguel Muratore, Mayor of Caxias do Sul in 1931, gave organizers the necessary support to get the Festa off and running. The Festa went on hiatus from 1938–1949 because of economic instability in the city and surrounding Italian region, due in part to the effects of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, when Italy was an enemy of the Allies. The festival promoted Italian culture.

References

External links

Photo Gallery of the Festa da Uva
*
Official Festa da Uva website
Italian-Brazilian culture Caxias do Sul Culture in Rio Grande do Sul Cultural festivals in Brazil Tourist attractions in Rio Grande do Sul Food and drink festivals in Brazil Harvest festivals Folk festivals in Brazil {{brazil-cuisine-stub

History

See also

References

External links