2020PressRelease
MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release
The 9th Annual Brazilian Festival Will Be Live in Fort Lauderdale, Dec. 12 & 13, with Strict Coronavirus precautions, making it the Only Brazilian Celebration in the Nation to take Place Live in 2020
WHAT: The 9th Annual Brazilian Festival.
WHEN: Saturday Dec. 12 and Sunday Dec. 13 from 11am to 10pm
WHERE: Huizenga Park (Bubier Park), 32 E. Las Olas Blvd. Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
TICKETS: To support Coronavirus safety precautions, all tickets must be purchased in advance online at brazilianfestival.org. Cost is a $10 donation.
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL — This year’s Florida Brazilian Festival will be a relaxing weekend of live outdoor music, food, samba performances and community camaraderie in Huizenga Park in Fort Lauderdale on Dec. 12 and 13 from 11am to 10pm. Attendees are invited to bring their beach chairs and soak in some sun while enjoying a two-day lineup of multicultural music, food and entertainment. The festival aims to support musicians, artists, local vendors and the spirit of recovery during these trying times. Strict Coronavirus safety precautions will be instituted in order to protect all festival attendees.
This year’s lineup will include a wide range of latin-influenced acoustic artists. On Dec. 12 the lineup will include: Héli, an Argentinian musician from Deerfield Beach who performs contemporary Brazilian tunes; Caro Pierotto, a jazzy singer-songwriter from California; Bossa Fusion Duo, an epic guitarist and sensual singer with a fusion of latin-American styles from Miami; and a festive Samba parade by Unidos de Miami.
On Dec. 13 the lineup will include an acoustic tribute to Alanis Morisette; Bibi Saboia, a young, whimsical, melodic pop singer who was signed by Warner Music Brazil at only 13-years-old; Cravo e Canela, a vibrant, funky, forro band; Joanna Nova York, the Winner of the 2012 Best Brazilian Singer Award; and Fernanda Noronha & Peu Pereira, a sexy, samba-esque, acoustic duo originally from Salvador, Brazil, coming from Atlanta.
Strict Coronavirus safety precautions will be instituted at this year’s festival in order to protect all festival attendees. These precautions will include a temperature check at entry, a mandatory mask requirement, enforced social distancing, an extremely limited crowd size, admission with advanced online ticket sales only, sanitation stations throughout the park, liability waivers and sanitation policies for vendors. As a way to stop the spread of the virus, attendees who wish to sit in front of the stage will also need to bring their own beach chairs. Some tables will be available in one extremely limited section away from the stage.
The Annual Brazilian Festival in Florida has been a highly anticipated celebration in South Florida for the past nine years, attracting crowds over the course of two days. It is known as the largest Brazilian Festival in the Southeastern United States. Last year the festival was headlined by Iza, a Brazilian pop powerhouse who was nominated for a 2018 Latin Grammy award; and in 2018, Elba Ramalho, who won two Latin Grammy awards and was nominated for six. Marcelo D2, Cidade Negra, and Paralamas do Sucesso have also previously performed.
The 2020 festival was originally slated to headline American pop-rock band Smash Mouth, who is best known for their 2009 and 2010 hits “Walkin’ On the Sun, ”“All Star“ and “I’m a Believer” from the soundtrack for “Shrek.” Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, it is wiser and safer for Smash Mouth to headline the festival’s 10th Anniversary in 2021, instead. The 10th Anniversary festival will also showcase Onze:20, Gian and Giovani, James McWhinney, Paula Lima, Kell Smith, and Adelmo Case, among many others. These renowned musicians were also originally scheduled for the 2020 festival, but are confirmed for the 10th Anniversary Celebration in 2021.
Negotiations are also underway to feature the 2021 festival on a Netflix Brasil documentary, which will tell the history of the Festival over a decade, and cast an important spotlight on South Florida as a tourist destination for Brazilians.
In spite of 2020’s change in lineup, and in spite of extreme projected revenue losses due to the pandemic, festival organizer Luciano Sameli said he still felt it critically important to host the festival to support musicians, artists and local vendors who count on the festival as a source of income, and to honor the festival’s longtime fans and donors. He hopes the festival will also serve as a symbol of hope and recovery for the community.
“Our hearts go out to our beloved community, which we know is braving the current global pandemic, courageously facing great loss and unforeseen economic and personal challenges,” Sameli said. “If there is one thing the pandemic has illuminated more than anything else, it is that our world is deeply interconnected, and the spirit of human camaraderie has taken over the Globe. While we know our festival name implies our event is about the Brazilian community, we believe our reach is much broader. We have always thought of the festival as a multi-cultural celebration to promote global unity and brotherly love. These messages are now more important than ever. It was with this spirit in mind that we pushed through great adversity to host this year’s festival in Fort Lauderdale.”
In 2019, The Annual Brazilian Festival invested $232,000 in Brazilian suppliers, contractors and labor. In eight years, the festival provided 3,200 temporary indirect jobs, generated more than $40,000 for local institutions, contracted services from approximately 267 local businesses, helped more than 2,100 local exhibitors with brand exposure and generated more than $800,000 for local food vendors.
The Brazilian population is an integral part of South Florida’s culture and community. Based on Brazilian television subscriptions and U.S. census data, it is estimated that approximately 360,000 Brazilians live in Florida — the largest Brazilian population in any state of the country. In addition, 993,000 Brazilians visited Florida in 2017, and over a million in 2016 (according to Visit Florida, the state’s official tourism marketing corporation). Brazil ranks third in the world for providing Florida with the most tourist visitors behind Canada and the United Kingdom.
The festival was created in 2012 and hosted for 8 years in a row in the City of Pompano Beach to celebrate South Florida’s vibrant Brazilian culture and foster community across cultural divides. This year the festival is proud to be embraced by the compassion of the City of Fort Lauderdale and hopefully attract a livelier crowd in desperate need of hope, faith and the belief of happier days ahead in the Horizon.
Luciano Sameli | President
9th Annual Brazilian Festival Florida
Dec. 12 & 13 from 11am 10 10pm
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brazilianfestival
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brazilianfestivalflorida/
Phone. 305.803.0338 – 786.584.9034
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