00:00On Wednesday, millions of people across the Brazilian Northeast commemorated St. John's Day,
00:06which is the second biggest street festival in Brazil after Carnival.
00:10Our correspondent, Brian Meir Hasmore.
00:19On June 24th, millions of people across Brazil's Northeast celebrated St. John's Day,
00:24an ancient pagan harvest festival from Portugal and Galicia that was appropriated by the Catholic Church
00:30and fused with Afro-Brazilian and indigenous traditions in Brazil.
00:34In Pernambuco, this festival has also become a celebration of bands of Robin Hood-style outlaws
00:41from the 1920s and 1930s called Cangaceros, who invented a style of music and dance called Chachado.
00:48Chachado is a war dance created by the Cangaceros.
00:56They lived as nomads without the right to leisure and recreation, so they created Chachado to have fun.
01:01When they camped in remote areas to hide from the police, they created this moment of leisure.
01:06This is how the dance style began.
01:08They danced with their guns so that if the police arrived at the party, they would be ready to fight
01:12back.
01:17In 1923, Lampião rose up in the town of Serra Talhada to lead the largest group of Cangaceros ever.
01:24With over 100 members at its height, Lampião's gang terrorized the roadless backlands of seven Brazilian states for 15 years.
01:32In 1930, he fell in love with Maria Bonita and they became the first Cangaso group to ever incorporate women
01:39fighters.
01:39Known for acts of cruelty and good deeds for the poor, they became permanently etched in the consciousness of the
01:47Brazilian Northeast.
01:52This movement was made up of landless farmers, indigenous people and ex-slaves who didn't have a right to the
01:59type of gainful employment that we have today.
02:02So they started robbing and looting and also doing work for the big land barons.
02:07Many people entered the Cangaso as a response to a situation in which the land barons acted like the kings
02:13of a land that had no laws for the poor.
02:23Today, Chachado is known as a precursor to Northeastern Brazil's most popular genre of music, Forho.
02:30And every year, during the St. John's Festival, groups of dancers and musicians dress up as Cangaceros
02:35and perform at hundreds of street parties in towns and villages across the Northeast.
02:43Lampião represents the courage and the resistance of the country people from the Northeast.
02:48That's why we identify with him and it's why his story has so much power to this day.
02:58This year, the St. John's Festival generated an estimated 7.4 billion reais for the Brazilian economy.
03:06Brian Meir, Telesur, Serra Talhada.
03:10Brian Meir, Telesur...
03:10Alexey, Telesur, Routy
03:11Alexey, Mites
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