Brazilians in West Boca Celebrate Their Independence Day with Grand Festival

By: Pedro Heizer

Imagine yourself celebrating the Fourth of July overseas not just once, but for numerous years. You could be very adapted to the life in our new country, but Fourth of July will still be a very important date in your calendar every year.

That’s what happens to many Brazilians who live in the United States. The Brazilians celebrate their independence day on September 7.

On September 7 1822, Don Pedro I, the prince in charge of the Portuguese colony in Brazil, broke all ties with the royal crown of Portugal by declaring the Independence of Brazil.

September 7^th is a very important date for Brazilians all over the world. Many families get together to celebrate not only their independence, but their culture and things that remind them of their homeland.

The Brazilian Congregation of Boca Glades Baptist Church in Boca Raton sees this day as a great opportunity to reach out to the Brazilian community in West Boca Raton.

The Igreja Baptista Boca Glades is throwing their Third Annual Brazilian Independence day festival this Saturday, September 4.

Last year, the church had over 700 people attend and taste all the difference flavors of Brazilian food and this year they are expecting over 1,500 people.

This is a terrific opportunity for you to have a taste of Brazil without needing to leave the country. At the festival, there will be tents with each of the regions of Brazil, southeast, northeast, mideast, north, and south. Each tent will have special dishes that are typical to that region of the country.

“Last year, we had a great turnout but this year from the looks of it, it seems as if we will have the biggest crowd we have ever seen” said the pastor of the church, Jose Uchoa.

Not only will there be food, but there will be music. Throughout the event, there will be music sung, and danced.

Entrance to the event is free but, there will be charges for the food. All the money from the food they receive will be given to Missions. The Igreja Baptista Boca Glades is currently works with multiple organizations including “The Joshua Project”.

Joshua Project is a research initiative seeking to highlight the ethnic people groups of the world. Joshua Project gathers, integrates and shares people group information to encourage pioneer church-planting movements among every ethnic group and to facilitate effective coordination of mission agency efforts. Joshua Project compiles the work of numerous missions’ researchers to develop a list of all ethnic peoples that is as complete as possible.

The event will be held at Boca Glades Baptist Church in West Boca Raton starting at 4pm and going until 9pm on Sunday, September 4. The address to the church is:

Here are some pictures from last year’s event: