Arraiá da Capital: pandemia e identidade dos quadrilheiros de Palmas-TO

Abstract

The pandemic of the new coronavirus (Covid-19) made it impossible for cultural events from all over the world to take place with the presence of the public, a fact that also impacted the Quadrilhas Juninas of Arraiá da Capital, a traditional party in Palmas, capital of Tocantins. The event had its in-person format canceled by decree and, therefore, in 2020, the party was held in the online format, with a considerable reduction in the number of participants. As a result, this work makes an ethnography about the impacts of the health crisis on the event, the implications experienced by groups of Quadrilhas Juninas and the ways in which they had to reinvent the party. The research also had the objective of tracing some elements of the identity of the Quadrilhas Juninas, as participants of the demonstration and, also, residents of Palmas. It was evident that even with the pandemic, these groups did not lose the will to preserve the celebration and that they yearn, after vaccination, for the party to be even bigger than before, actions that have shown to further strengthen the identity of the quadrilha members.