"The world's largest Carnival block is the theme of the new temporary exhibition at Paço do Frevo, 'The Magic of the Rooster,' which opens its doors on October 27th at 7 pm with a procession and shows by various artists from Pernambuco on a stage set up in front of the museum. Saluting Carnival, the Reference Center for the Safeguarding of Frevo will pay homage to His Majesty, the Rooster of the Dawn, in three exhibition spaces. Visitors will see a comprehensive historical, symbolic, and emotional rescue of 44 years of the association's parades, have an immersive experience that will take them into the crowd, and also enjoy a celebration of the Carnivals of the Center of Recife and the frevo that pulsates mainly in the neighborhoods of Santo Antônio and São José. The exhibition will be on display until March 2024.

On the opening night, the Paço will be open with free access from 7 pm to 9 pm for those who want to be the first to see the new exhibition. 'The Magic of the Rooster' - a conception of Paço do Frevo, Cactus Productions, and Galo da Madrugada, with the realization of the Ministry of Culture, the City of Recife, the Recife City Culture Foundation, and the Vale Cultural Institute, the main sponsor, through the Rouanet Law, and with the support of Pitú - will be on the ground floor of the museum, inaugurating the expanded temporary exhibition space of the cultural facility located in Arsenal Square.

The opening event will be a celebration and a tribute to the greatest symbol of Recife's revelry, with the Galo da Madrugada procession leaving at 7 pm from Rua do Bom Jesus, at the corner of Av. Rio Branco, towards the Paço. The Illusions Block and the Galo da Madrugada Youth Orchestra, led by Maestro Vitor Bispo, will participate. The parade will feature the presence of the Galo's standard and Mestre Zacarias, the standard-bearer of the block for over 40 years, as well as buglers, little roosters, and representatives of the Clóvis Clowns, Tapirapé Indians, Beautiful Lion Maracatu, Campina Lion Maracatu, and dancers.

On the stage, starting at 7 pm, the festivities will be led by the Maestro Jorginho Lima Neto's Brass Orchestra, with shows by Almir Rouche, André Rio, Cíntia Barros, Gustavo Travassos, Marron Brasileiro, and Michelle Melo.

'The exhibition delves into the universe of the Galo da Madrugada and the relationship of the revelers who are passionate about this association. We constantly seek to demonstrate the magnitude of the passion that the reveler, who chooses to spend Zé Pereira's Saturday at Galo da Madrugada, feels. The association that drags a crowd through the central streets of Recife and connects through the vibration of Frevo needed to be represented at the height in the exhibition that marks the turn to the year in which Paço do Frevo will celebrate 10 years,' says the museum's director, Luciana Félix. 'Here, at the Reference Center for the Safeguarding of the cultural manifestation that is one of the crucial and symbolic landmarks of the Pernambuco identity, the Galo da Madrugada demands passage. And to us, at Paço do Frevo, it's only fitting to sing: 'Hey folks, come, everyone, come and discover, at the Paço, the Galo da Madrugada,' she celebrates.

Rômulo Meneses, president of Galo da Madrugada, says that the association receives with pride this tribute from Paço do Frevo: 'Recife is graced with an exhibition that highlights the historical and cultural importance of one of the largest carnival associations on the planet, a heritage of the State of Pernambuco. We hope, with it, to touch the hearts of the revelers who accompany us and fill the central streets of the city with joy, as well as to win, with our magic, new lovers of the Galo's Saturday carnival.'

The curatorship is by Ângelo Filizola. The idea was to bring together, in one place, the elements of explosion, tradition, memory, and festive experience that only the Galo da Madrugada provides. All of this driven by the playful desire for the transformation of the world's order on Carnival Saturday. 'Carnival begins with the Galo da Madrugada,' when a multitude manifests itself untamable and irrepressible through the streets of Recife, reclaiming what has always belonged to it and regenerating the carnival senses of life: passion, poetry, and combustion. The Rooster is a harbinger and representation: the leading float of the most dazzling celebration, of the time of ritualistic renewal of which we are participants and devotees,' he decrees.

'It is part of Carnival, as we know it and as only we do it, to live the Galo da Madrugada, to recognize its magic that enchants and brings together crowds. But it is worth going beyond the celebration, for a moment looking at history, uncovering origins, seeing that the block is also a giant in the defense of frevo and our cultural traditions, from the very beginning; it was born this way, grew this way. The Paço exhibition deservedly reverences the Galo, presents this Recife heritage in its times and spaces, which are - and will continue to be - monumental,' celebrates Ricardo Mello, Secretary of Culture of Recife.

THE THREE EXHIBITION SPACES - The 'Festive Time' room places the Galo da Madrugada in the history of Recife's Carnival and in the set of memories from its 44 parades. In this space, visitors will be able to see and contemplate important documentary records of the past, pieces from the association's collection, memorial narratives of public interest and historical value, as well as a tribute to Enéas Freire, its founder and emeritus president. There are also testimonies from artists celebrating the vibrancy of the Galo, as well as a map that locates the club in the past-present - since it is remade with each new cycle, introducing new elements, understanding tradition as raw material for novelty, and not just as relics of the past.

The 'Magic of the Crowds' area offers an immersive experience in the Galo da Madrugada parade, bringing the visitor closer to a carnival experience that is emotional, subjective, and unique. The 'world's largest association' is translated into the symbol-image of the streets filled with revelers, breaking records with each edition. The room explores this 'aesthetics of the crowds,' of the people in turmoil to the sound of Frevo, energized by the rapture of a synesthetic and highly identity-laden musicality. It reflects the strength of the festive apparatus that moves and, therefore, makes Galo's Saturday always an unforgettable time-space lapse.

In the "Reveler's Territory" room, the relationship of Galo da Madrugada with the center of Recife is explored, more precisely with the neighborhoods of São José and Santo Antônio, addressing the social life of the club, the tradition of its parade, the relationship with other carnival associations, and the strength of the activities at its headquarters. The room communicates this particular poetics forged in the memory of the "nostalgic carnivals" and values both the liveliness of current festive and formative practices, in the symbolic centrality of Pernambuco's culture, and the maintenance of the city center as a privileged territory of Frevo.