African American Travel Group

Boa Morte Festival Packages Cachoeira, Bahia, Brazil - August 15th, 2008

Sisterhood of the Good Death
Boa Morte Festival Irmandade da Boa Morte

Boa Morte Festival in Cachoeira, Brazil - August 15th, 2008

Members of the sisterhood of the Festa da Boa Morte Festival in their finery for the Festival of Good Death in Cachoeira, African roots...

In Bahia, Africa abounds! Salvador is the "most" African of all of the Brazilian cities. 90% of the population of over two million people has African ancestry. The local cuisine, musical traditions, dance forms and Bahia's vibrant visual arts are all testaments to this permeating African influence.

Cachoeira Bahia Festivals
Festa de Nossa Senhora da Boa Morte Festival falls on the Friday closest to 15 August and lasts three days. This is one of the most fascinating Candomblé festivals and it's worth a special trip to see it. Organized by the Irmandade da Boa Morte (Sisterhood of the Good Death)—a secret, black, religious society—the festival is celebrated by the descendants of slaves, who praise their liberation with dance and prayer and a mix of themes from Candomblé and Catholicism

Sisterhood of the Boa Morte Festival (Good Death) is the oldest organization for women of African descent in the New World. The Boa Morte Sisterhood is a secret society of African-Brazilian women, all descendants of African slaves, who sponsor a procession each August that parades through the streets of the historical city of Cachoeira on the banks of the Paraguacu River. It is perhaps the most important festival in the African Heritage calendar in Bahia and is a living tribute of African culture and Diaspora to the New World.

A dignified member fo the Good Death Sisterhood marches during the organization's annual celebration in Cachoeira, Bahia, Brazil.

Good Death's Sisters Festival

Irmandade de Boa Morte Festival ( Sisterhood of the Good Death ) The history of the Irmandade da Boa Morte (Sisterhood of the Good Death), a religious confraternity devoted to the Assumption of the Virgin, is part of the history of mass importation of blacks from the African coast to the cane-growing Reconcavo region of Bahia. Iberian adventurers built beautiful towns in this area, one of them being Cachoeira, which was the second most important economic center in Bahia for three centuries. In a patriarchal society marked by racial and ethnic differences, the confraternity is made up exclusively of black women, which gives this Afro-Catholic manifestation - as some consider it - a significant role in the annals of African Diaspora history. Besides the gender and race of the confraternity's members, their status as former slaves and descendants of slaves is an important social characteristic without which it would be difficult to understand many aspects of the confraternity's religious commitments. The former slaves have demonstrated enormous adroitness in worshipping in the religion of those in power without letting go of their ancestral beliefs, as well as in the ways they defend the interests of their followers and represent them socially and Politically.

BOA MORTE PACKAGES INCLUDED FEATURES:

Round trip air to Salvador, Bahia and Rio de Janeiro
All transfers and baggage handling between Bahia and Rio de Janeiro airports and hotels - limit 02 bags per person -maximum weight 72 lbs.
Accommodations at the deluxe 4-star Miramar Palace Hotel located on Copacabana beach and at the luxury 5-star Bahia Othon Palace Hotel in Salvador
Delicious Buffet Breakfast daily
African Heritage City Tour of Rio de Janeiro to include Corcovado (Christ Statue)
African Heritage City Tour of Rio de Janeiro.
Dinner at Churrascaria Restaurant (Rio).
African Heritage City Tour of Salvador (Bahia).
Visit to an African-Brazilian carnival bloco and an independent school.
Boa Morte Festival in the historical city of Cachorira. Lunch included.
Day visit to the island of Itaparica. Lunch included.
Folklore Cultural Show and Dinner.
Baggage Handling in and out of hotels.
U.S. Airport and Departure Taxes.
Brazilian International Airport Taxes.

$ 2.300,00 Price per person double occupacy

$ 475, additional for a single room

African American Travel Group

Boa Morte Festival in Cachoeira, Bahia Brazil - August 15th, 2008

African Heritage City Tours are specialty tours

Sisterhood of the Good Death
Boa Morte Festival Irmandade da Boa Morte