UI student brings the Carnival of Brazil to campus
University of Idaho senior Brandon Hurt is collaborating with the UI Brazilian Club to host an event inspired by the annual Carnival of Brazil Friday at the Living Learning Community and Wallace Residence Center.
A barbeque will take place from 4-6 p.m. in the LLC courtyard, featuring Brazilian cuisine and a dance will be held in the Wallace basement afterward. Hurt said a disc jockey is flying in from Brazil to help run the dance. Admission to the event is free for all students.
Hurt pitched the idea to the LLC and Wallace community councils, and both groups supported the event. As a result, Hurt received $2,250 in funding.
Hurt and the Brazilian Club coordinated the event with the Residence Hall Association President, Ryan Spaniel.
“We can’t wait to work with the Brazilian Club to bring our cultures together in an exciting event like this,” he said.
Hurt also said he is particularly looking forward to mixing the LLC and Wallace communities.
Hurt said he gained support for the event, partially because there are more Brazilians at UI than there have ever been before. The increase is due to a boost in the Brazil Scientific Mobility Program, which is part of a larger initiative to help students study abroad and learn English.
Hurt said the annual celebration is a big deal in Brazil. He said it’s an anticipated five-day tradition and consists of huge parades, music, dancing and traditional food.
Carlos Leite and Lygia Soares, two Brazilian Club members, said the carnival started with the Portuguese in Brazil. Soares said the carnival has roots in paganism and is the most popular holiday in Brazil.
The carnival is celebrated in different ways around the world, Soares said. In Soares’ and Leite’s state, Minas Gerais, most of the celebrations take place in college cities. There are concerts, drinking in the streets and some people wear costumes, Soares said.
Regardless of how similar the Brazilian Club event is to the actual Carnival of Brazil, Hurt said he wanted to try to bring the event to UI in an effort to break down barriers and overcome social stereotypes.
“The event we’re doing here is meant to bring the atmosphere of what it’s actually like in Brazil to UI students, although it won’t come close to the same magnitude,” Hurt said.
Hurt said what inspired him to pursue the idea of a carnival was seeing the divide between the general UI student population and foreign exchange students. He said he only sees a handful of events each year aimed at bridging the gap — so he is doing something on his own.
“One thing I’ve noticed is that when it comes to foreign exchange students and the rest of the student population there’s not a whole lot of mix going on,” Hurt said. “There are some things that are set up to help them, but I wouldn’t necessarily say that there are any significant events put on by Housing that have tried to bring everyone together.”
Jamie Lunders can be reached at [email protected]