Boa Morte Festival in Bahia?

Question

Someone told me of this festival that takes place every August in Cachoeira, Bahia. Does anyone know about this?

Answer 1

Nossa Senhora da Boa Morte (literally Our Lady of Good Death) Festival has as main objective to thank her "for liberty granted". This celebration has been held for more than a century in the city of Cachoeira, located in the area surrounding All Saints' Bay. The last day of the festival is when the Assumption of Our Lady is commemorated. The festival includes a three day devotion celebrated at the Our Lady of the Rosary of the Port of Cachoeira Church, a prayer vigil, a festive mass, two processions, a dinner and a lunch at the headquarters of the sisterhood as well as performances of samba de roda-a traditional style of samba danced in a circle. The Sisterhood of Good Death, a closed society that only accepts females of African descent-is responsible for organizing the entire event. The devotion to Our Lady of Good Death was initiated at the Barroquinha Church in Salvador by freed female slaves who founded the society around 1823, the objective of which was to work and save enough money to buy the freedom of the other sisters.

Answer 2

Order of Our Lady of the Good Death

At the beginning of August, a long schedule of public events brings people from everywhere to Cachoeira, to what Moraes Ribeiro considers the most representative living document of Brazilian, baroque, Ibero-African religiosity. Suppers, parades, masses, processions, samba-de-roda (a traditional form of playing and dancing the samba in a circle) put the confraternity in the center of events in this provincial city and, ultimately, in the main newspapers and news networks of the capital.

The festival’s calendar includes the confession of members in the parish church; a cortege representing the death of Our Lady; a vigil followed by a supper of bread, wines and seafood in obedience to religious customs forbidding the consumption of palm oil and meat on the day of Oxalá, the creator of the universe; and the burial procession of Our Lady of the Good Death, during which the sisters wear their ceremonial clothing.

The celebration of the Assumption of Our Lady of Glory by a mass in the mother church, followed by a procession, gives way to the contagious fun of the people of Cachoeira, which breaks out in full color, food, music and dancing over as many days as the donations and annual reserves allow.

If you really want to know more about Cachoeira or Bahia in general, please, have a look at this web sites:  

*http://www.bahia-online.net/excursions.h... (you can listen to good music too); and

*http://www.bahia.com.br (Tours/How to get there / Services/pictures from there/ Where to eat/Where to stay and more)

*wikipedia (and surch for "Order of Our Lady of the Good Death)