On a warm afternoon on April 3, students went to an event set up on a stretch of grass beside the Modern Languages Building on the University of Arizona campus.
The Spanish and Portuguese department organized a Festa Junina event to celebrate the religious Brazilian holiday, which is celebrated throughout the South American country during the entire month of June.
There are three days within the month to honor different saints at the start of winter. The most famous festivity is São João, where different dances, street gatherings and games bring crowds that rival Carnaval.
For the second year in a row, organizer Kátia Bezerra wanted to celebrate the holiday in April with students before final exams.
The Portuguese department partnered with the UA Flagship Language program, where students taking Portuguese classes can go to Brazil to study.
VIEW LARGER A Flagship Language program flyer is displayed next to a small Brazilian flag in front of pennant flag streamers at the Festa Junina event on April 3, 2026.
Thatcher Warrick Hess, AZPM News
One Flagship Language student at last week’s event, Madeleine Housh, is excited to be going to Brazil this summer.
“For me it means a lot because I am actually going to Brazil. I will be able to go to the Festa Junina in Salvador this summer. So this is a cool way to learn about it before I go there as well,” Housh said.
The senior transfer student says she has made a lot of friends at these events and comes to improve her Portuguese.
VIEW LARGER Madeleine Housh dances with another student at the Festa Junina event on April 3, 2026.
Thatcher Warrick Hess, AZPM News
Even native Brazilians attended the event, like visiting University of Arizona scholar Nadine de Campos da Silva, who is from a city outside of Rio de Janeiro.
“I was reminded of the little pennant flags that are typical of Festa Junina. I remember cutting them when I was a kid. I think it’s really exciting,” de Campos da Silva told AZPM in Portuguese.
Adolfo Centeno, Flagship Program Coordinator, explained that around 45 people came in and out of the festival.
VIEW LARGER Major Frederick Olsen stands in front of the table at the Festa Junina event on April 3, 2026.
Thatcher Warrick Hess, AZPM News
Maj. Frederick Olsen, who teaches ROTC at the University of Arizona, was a missionary in the late 1990s when he lived in Brazil. His grandmother is from Rio de Janeiro and Olsen remembers hearing Portuguese as a kid.
“I just never lost it. I just fell in love with it,” Olsen said.
There were Brazilian snacks like “paçoca”, a sugar peanut butter crumble, and “pé de moleque”, a peanut brittle candy. Both were ordered online in advance, according to Bezerra.
Brisa Lima, a graduate student in the Latin American Studies department, taught a typical folk square dance called “quadrilha” to a group of students.
“That’s Brazil for you,” Lima said, out of breath. “You just get everyone dancing and the blood flowing… I love it.”
VIEW LARGER University of Arizona students dance “quadrilha” at the Festa Junina event on April 3, 2026.
Thatcher Warrick Hess, AZPM News
While Housh and Lima danced, de Campos da Silva said that “quadrilha” is what every kid in Brazil learns before the age of 17. She performed the dance every summer growing up.
Olsen says he loves the Brazilian community and the connections built at events like these.
“They are very loving and very excited, just amazing people to be around,” Olsen said. “We are getting ready for finals and a lot of people are stressing out. And so what better opportunity than to hang out with some of the happiest people on Earth?”
