The title of this post actually comes from an e-mail I sent to friends and family last year. Kind of the pre-blog days. In it, I talked about the annual celebration that is held on Sixth Street in Manhattan. It’s called “Brazilian Day”. On Sept. 2, it happened for the 23rd time.
I had known it was going to happen, but had put it out of mind. On my way to Church, I noticed a lot of parked trucks near 44th Street and as soon as I got close, I knew it all. Last year’s celebration was big. This one seems to have dwarfed it. Lots and lots of people and a huge street fair going up to around 57th Street.
In my 2006 missive on the event, I talked about being near the boom operator and eventually being rousted by the cops who didn’t want anyone standing near the boom operator. Well, the boom operator was back, I was back (but positioned differently), but it was a different cop who did the rousting.
But, I’m getting ahead of myself. For the 23rd time, NYC hosted Brazilian Day (or maybe it’s Brazil Day, which is what I’ve called it for the two years I’ve been going). It seems that almost every street in Manhattan has a second name, and the second name for East 46th Street is “Little Brazil”. And when there’s gonna be a festival to celebrate all things Brazilian, what better place? None.
I had known it was going on, but hadn’t thought about it for days and didn’t expect it. Imagine my surprise when on my way to Church (we had, I think, 15 at the service), Brazilian Day beckoned me. I was happy to oblige, after Church of course. Actually, it’s better to have gone to Church than wait. In fact, I would have preferred going to the next two services at my church rather than do what I did do: wait. And wait. And wait.
First, here are some pictures, ’cause I gotta show pictures! Here’s some stuff during the setup.
The above were shot around 8:30am or so. It got a little more crowded (okay, a lot more crowded) as the day went on.
And there were the occasional props that I found lying around.
I haven’t the foggiest who it’s supposed to be. I think a soccer player.
And, as any good parade will have, there were characters. The guy below is from the Philippenes. He was posing for everyone. I talked with him for a moment and he seemed a great guy. I saw him off and on for the next couple of hours until the crowds overwhelmed everything.
And the “heads” started to appear.
The area I was in was right next to one of the cameras they used to film the crowd. I found myself right next to it. As soon as the boom operator started moving it, the crowd went crazy. It was just a little odd standing within about three feet of it for a long, long time.
Oh, and here are the boom operators. I had stood near them last year when I first saw Brazil Day and it was like old home week for me. I recognized the guy on the right as the main operator, but I don’t know if the guy on the left was the same operator as last year (that guy didn’t have a beard, but he could have grown it).
And the crowds began to gather…
And the boom operators began their work.
And the crowd showed its desire to be on camera…
Capturing the entire crowd was tough. Every so often I’d see a nice vignette.
A bit blurry, but the look they both had was too good not to include.
Here’s what it really looked like to me most of the time.
While I was standing here, people began cutting over to the sidewalk near me; bypassing the intricate structure that the cops had set up. Last year, I had stood near the boom operators in a little area that bypassed the intricate structures the cops had at that time. One had finally come up and chased me and a couple of others away in a huff. (It was hilarious that he was so upset that I had found a niche they didn’t spot during their setup.) I knew another cop was going to spot this year’s problem and I kept waiting to see if the same cop would come up and roust me again (this year, I was perfectly in the proper spot, but the crowd was shifting the barricade inch by inch). I eventually left, and just seconds after going I saw a cop striding puposefully to the area. It wasn’t the same cop though. Yeah, he did shift everything all over again.
I left the area and did some wandering. There were some sights that you would have expected from the Brazilians.
And finally the music started up. In honesty, it wasn’t my cup of tea. I had expected some sort of jazz/carioca sort of music and this was more of a traditional song standard. But the crowd knew every word and they got into it.
I left soon after it started. I had been there way too long just watching the crowd and experiencing the rush that comes from a well-done festival like this. I left the actual festivities to the Brazilians. And, I think they had a good time.
-H
Famous Ankles 