After breakfast at our hotel, we join the local population in celebrating an important part of their cultural heritage Lavagem do Bonfim.
(Lavagem - ritual washing of a church that symbolizes purification and blessings into the New Year which culminates into a party)
Celebrated on the second Thursday of the year, Salvador’s biggest festival outside of Carnival honors the saint with Bahia's largest following for the traditional washing of the Bonfim stairs.
The procession is led by Bahians "Baianas"(women dressed as Bahian ‘aunts’)
with traditional costumes - turbans, starched skirts, bracelets and necklaces - carrying pots with perfumed water and flowers to do Bonfim. Behind them comes the famous Carnival group Filhos de Gandhy-Gandhi Sons and a crowd of faithfuls. Everyone dressed in white to honour the God Yoruba
You could call Lavagem do Bonfim a road party – however, that would scarcely do it equity. This 8-kilometer parade through the lower portion of Salvador, is a genuinely otherworldly occasion that epitomizes the very heart of Brazil in each sense, mixing both the sacrosanct and the mainstream. Everyone is full of energy! There's religious rituals, drumming, chanting and the alcohol plentiful.
The celebration begins in front of the Church of the Conception of the Beach. The square in front of Bonfim is full of people, drink and food stalls invites you to experience the typical Bahian acarajé (local streetfood of Bahia). You can also buy traditional ribbons, which has exactly the same image that is arm's length within the Church. It is believed that by tying it on the wrist you must make three wishes to be performed when the little ribbon falls off (by itself !)
Explore more about the cultural significance of Lavagem here:
https://dtruth.wordpress.com/2006/05/31/lavagem-do-bonfim/