Traditional Galinho from Brasília is back in Asa Sul

Back at the beginning of Via L2, in Asa Sul, in Brasília, the place where it has always paraded, Galinho de Brasília resumed the tradition of 32 years of existence. The group, which had difficulty taking to the streets in the last five years, returned with two electric trios and many nostalgic revelers.

Nara Albernazi, from Rio Grande do Sul, who has lived in Brasília for 59 years, has been a regular at Galinho since the group first came out. As a souvenir, the 65-year-old journalist parades every year with a frevo umbrella that she bought during her first participation in the block. “He already went to Recife and is an asset of my carnival”.

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The couple from Brasilia, Raquel de Queiroz and Ricardo Amoras, had been playing at Galinho for many years. Mainly him, who grew up on block 202 Sul and used to walk to Galinho to play.

“For me, it is one of the most traditional blocks in Brasília and when it stopped leaving I was sad. This year, when I found out I was going back, I wanted to bring my daughter, who is 1 year old and three months old, to play too,” she says.

The president of the block, Romildo de Carvalho Júnior, says he had no expectation that so many people would come after the difficulties faced, but the public surprised him positively. “We feel great happiness in bringing this cultural richness from Recife and incorporating Brasilia culture and Brazilian culture into our carnival. This is our main goal”, he highlights.

Frevo

Founded in 1992, Galinho de Brasília is one of the guardians of the tradition of street blocks in the federal capital. It always parades to the sound of frevo, along the lines of the Galo da Madrugada block, which served as inspiration.

The block's director, Miriam Basiel, recalls that when it was created, the block was actually called Galinho da Madrugada, in honor of the group from Pernambuco. “Every year we went to Recife to play carnival, like the good Pernambucans that we are, but that year our savings were confiscated and we had to stay in Brasília, so we decided to put a block on the street”, she recalls.

The group had never spent so much time away from the streets and the players as in recent years, when, for two years, there was no carnival, due to the covid-19 pandemic and, after that, in 2023, the group was prevented from participating in the revelry by court decision.

Informed on the eve of the Saturday that traditionally parades, the group published a note on social media in which they criticized the decision of the cultural authorities and the pressure exerted by “a minority”. “Contrary to Brazilian culture, we are feeling discredited, in fact, discriminated against,” the publication reported.

In the two years before the pandemic, the group was already facing problems with some residents of the region where it parades, so in 2019 it did not go out and in 2020 it paraded outside its traditional location, near the Mané Garrincha stadium. “It was almost five years that we practically didn’t have a carnival. It’s a great joy to be able to return”, highlights Romildo.

Chick

In January of this year, a new publication announced the return of the block to the streets, this carnival “The rooster crowed, announcing the return of the most beloved block in Brasília”. And, even without traveling through the Asa Sul blocks, staying in a small section of the Setor de Autorquias, the return was in style. From early on, the little revelers woke up with Galo and celebrated frevo in the children's version of the traditional group, Pintinho de Brasília.

The cloudy weather didn't scare bank employee Nilsana Rocha and little Maria, 2 years old. Resident in Vitória da Conquista, Bahia, this is the second Carnival she has spent in Brasília with her family. “We are loving it. Street block, organized, without violence”, said Nilsana, saying that she has attended many carnivals on the streets of Recife.

Teacher Rayssa Aguiar also took her son Hércules Rudá, 3 years old. It's the first time he's been to Pintinho and he regretted the ban on moving around the block, which traditionally covered part of the city's banking sector and some commercial blocks in Asa Sul. This Carnival, he's focused on the banking sector.

“The biggest regret is the ban on walking,” he said, praising the structure set up for revelers. “For children, it’s ideal,” she added.