The Brazil Festival is an annual summer event in Tokyo, at the always buzzing and crowded Yoyogi Event Plaza, across from big, sprawling, action-packed Yoyogi Park, and right next to the Yoyogi National Stadium. Festival Brasil 2016 happened there again last weekend.

The Tokyo area has a large Brazilian population, much of it in quite rural areas. The Brazil Festival, held here every summer, is where they all come together and celebrate brasilianismo.

The festival was held over two days, Saturday and Sunday. Sunday was the better-attended day, maybe because the next day, Monday, was a national holiday, Umi no Hi (Day of the Sea).

It was a festival in the true sense of the word, with food galore, drink galore and music and dancing everywhere. Not to mention the costumes. That bewitchingly Brazilian mix of skimpiness and uber-decoration was on full display, and sartorial expressiveness was a hallmark of the event.
The food included churrasco, from the nearby Barbacoa Grill on Omotesando Street, as well as coxinha, acai, and pastels, to name a few.

Dozens of stalls represented the numerous Brazilian-run and Brazil-oriented businesses in Japan. One of the most popular was the Brastel Remit money remittance stall, near the pedestrian overpass to Yoyogi Park. The Brastel booth was fitted around with jets that emitted a fine cooling spray, encouraging people to tarry a while in the mid-summer heat of the day.

The music stage was an all-day blend of every genre fr...