The Festa do Peão de Barretos ( Portuguese for "Cowboy Festival of Barretos") is a

rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...

featuring

bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not Castration, castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e. cows proper), bulls have long been an important symbol cattle in r ...

s and

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

s. In Barretos, Brazil, hundreds such festivals are held throughout the year. The Festa do Peão is one of the most famous such festivals, and has become world-famous for its size. The festival is held every year in the

São Paulo (state) São Paulo (, ) is one of the Federative units of Brazil, 26 states of the Brazil, Federative Republic of Brazil and is named after Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul of Tarsus. It is located in the Southeast Region, Brazil, Southeast Region and is bo ...

city of

Barretos Barretos is a municipality in the northern part of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The city has approximately 122,833 inhabitants (IBGE/2020) and an area of 1566.1 km2. Barretos belongs to the Mesoregion of Ribeirão Preto. History The c ...

, where it has traditionally been organized and promoted by the social club ''Os Independentes'' ("The Independents"). Barretos has the largest rodeo in the southern hemisphere, attracting around one million people every year.

History

The festival has its origins in the transfer of cattle from pasturing in the nearby states of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian States of Brazil, state located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District (Brazil), Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Ge ...

Mato Grosso do Sul Mato Grosso do Sul ( ) is one of Federative units of Brazil, Brazil's 27 federal units, located in the southern part of the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West Region, bordering five Brazilian states: Mato Grosso (to the north), Goiás and ...

, and

Mato Grosso Mato Grosso ( – ) is one of the states of Brazil, the List of Brazilian states by area, third largest by area, located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. The state has 1.66% of the Brazilian population and is responsible ...

to slaughterhouses in Barretos. The cowboys in the "entourages" that led the herds would meet in the afternoons and compete with each other to see who could ride the most spirited horses - the precursor to today's competition. The more difficult tradition of riding bulls instead of horses was brought from the United States. In 1955, in

, a group of

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s organized the first recorded Festa do Peão de Boiadeiro. Since that time the festival has become world-famous for its scale, and the high quality of cowboys, horses, and bulls. The festival takes place every August, coinciding with the anniversary of the founding of Barretos, August 25. It continues to be organized by The Independents. 2005 was the 50th annual Festa. Until 1984, the festivities took place in Paulo de Lima Park, in the center of Barretos, where memorable expositions of cattle took place during the 60s through the 80s. Since 1985 The Independents have held the event in a 110-hectare park with a

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

large enough to hold 35 thousand people, designed by renowned Brazilian

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Oscar Niemeyer Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho (15 December 1907 – 5 December 2012), known as Oscar Niemeyer (), was a Brazilian architect considered to be one of the key figures in the development of modern architecture. Niemeyer was b ...

. During its history, the festival has brought to Brazil some great international superstars, such as

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977) is a Colombian singer-songwriter. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Latin Music", she has had a Cultural impact of Shakira, significant impact on the ...

Garth Brooks Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American Country music, country singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him his immense popularity, particularly in the United States, ...

Alan Jackson Alan Eugene Jackson (born October 17, 1958) is an American country music singer-songwriter. He is known for performing a style widely regarded as "neotraditional country", as well as writing many of his own songs. Jackson has recorded 21 studi ...

Gloria Gaynor Gloria Fowles (born September 7, 1943), known professionally as Gloria Gaynor, is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits "I Will Survive" (1978), "I Have a Right, Let Me Know (I Have a Right)" (1979), "I Am What I Am (Broadway mus ...

A-Ha A-ha (often stylised as ''a''-h''a''; ) is a Norwegian synth-pop band formed in Oslo in 1982. Founded by Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (guitars and vocals), Magne Furuholmen (keyboards, guitars and vocals), and Morten Harket (lead vocals), the band ros ...

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...

and

Shania Twain Eilleen Regina "Shania" Twain ( ; born August 28, 1965) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She has sold over 100 million records, making her one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time and the best-sel ...

. Twain's concert was probably the festival's most notable attraction to date, as Festa do Peão had been trying to negotiate a show with the singer for over 20 years, and agreed to pay a R$4 million fee for her to come to Brazil. The official announcement of her concert was made on the Festa do Peão page on February 26, 2018, and reached a mark of 1.3 million views on

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alone. One million people visited Parque do Peão on the weekend of the event. Brazilian late country star Marília Mendonça and pop singer

Bastian Baker Bastien Kaltenbacher (born 20 May 1991), better known as Bastian Baker, is a Swiss singer-songwriter. Career Born in Lausanne to a professional hockey player father, Bastian wanted to become a professional hockey player in the footsteps of his ...

opened Twain's concert, which started at midnight for an audience of 55,000. Media outlets in Brazil, such as G1, reviewed the concert as one of the best ever performed at the festival.

External links

*
Os Independentes
- Organizers' home page {{DEFAULTSORT:Festa Do Peao De Boiadeiro Sport in São Paulo (state) Cultural festivals in Brazil Rodeos Festivals in São Paulo Animal festival or ritual Rodeo in Brazil