THE BRAZILIAN DAY FESTIVAL.... A sensory overload

With the last Sunday off (for the next several months) at my disposal, my day was going to be a simple one: Take a casual stroll over to the West Side to catch some of the BRAZILIAN DAY FESTIVAL, then stroll back over to the East Side and stop by NAPOLEON DYNAMITE'S apartment to check out the new digs (well, old digs, new roommate).

Now I'd heard plenty about this festival and how much fun it was. Little did I know what I was in for. As I approached 6th Avenue and 42nd Street, I was starting to notice more and more, the familiar colors of Brazil: Yellow, Green and Blue. And the colors came in all shapes and sizes, from jerseys, to flags, to bandannas, to thongs; you name it, almost everyone's attire had some Brazilian motif in it.

I get to 6th Avenue and BOOM: It hits and it hits hard! PARTY! PARTY! PARTY! Loud music, dancing, singing, eating, drinking, celebrating..... everywhere you looked, a sea of bodies in one partying mode. I had never seen anything like this. Even with New Year's Eve and the crush of people that comes with it couldn't compare to the festivities that was taking place. Words can only describe so much of what was going on around me. Let the pics do the talking:





Every where I looked, there were nothing but happy faces enjoying the sunny day and the tropical sounds of Brazil...






The Festival ran from 42nd Street to 57th Street; however, it was so crowded I simply couldn't make it all the way up to 57th; the crowds were so dense. I actually made it point to go down West 46th Street, or Little Brazil, the city's home of anything related to Brazil. Talk about a clusterfuck....







One of the highlights were the bands playing their brand of Brazilian music; a combination of jazz, salsa, meringue and plenty of drumming and percussion in between,, the sounds were infectious; even getting yours truly to get a little skip to his step and a bob to the head.







I think I may have been the only one not wearing the colors of Brazil...








I had to take a picture of the lady with the red feathers (see above); As she was banging away on her drums, I noticed that she had a healthy patch of armpit hair. I, of course, was immediately repulsed. However, I did stay there for quite sometime to try and get that perfect picture of that bush growing under that arm, but I think she was on to me and kept it covered. Ugh.



There are plenty of other pics but I think you get the gist. It was so crowded that it literally took me at least a half an hour just to get from one end of a block to the other. And as I mentioned before, getting through West 46th Street was a nightmare, but in a fun way. I've been here over 20 years and I can honestly say that I never experienced anything quite like this...

I think I need a nap.

NUFF SAID