Fiesta DC 2009

Fiesta DC 2009 (PixUp), originally uploaded by ambrosianbeads.

This is the third year I've been a part of this festival in NW Washington, DC. My Brazilian band, Batala, performed in the parade and the best part is seeing all the brilliant costumes from Central and South America, and the Carribean. I think it's my favorite festival of the whole year here in DC. I ordered some authentic Mexican tacos from a food vendor and found out that it's from a restaurant just down the street from my house. It was delicious, so now I'm definitely going to check it out.

Trip to Brazil by way of NYC

I just got back from a three day weekend in New York to participate in the "Lavagem do rua 46" which is a ritual based on the "Lavagem do Bonfim" which takes place every year in Salvador, Bahia in Brazil. The parade traveled down 46th Street which is known as Little Brazil. I played in my Brazilian percussion band, Batala, and for this parade, we had our largest contingent ever, 47 players, all women !

Here is a video of the headline performer Carlinhos Brown. I didn't know much about him before, but now I see why he is so famous, he's a great entertainer. Here is a parade video. We are the loud "wall" of drum sound and you can see us at the 35 sec. mark.