Paco do Frevo announces the complete schedule of its Christmas Cycle, blending the fraternal feelings of Christmas and New Year with the life force that only Frevo has. Closing out 2023, the institution, which is a Reference Center for the Safeguarding of Frevo, welcomes 2024, the year it completes its first decade of existence.

This December, the museum features various presentations of popular culture, including the Cavalo Marinho Estrela Brilhante do Condado, this Thursday (7); the recital of the Bloco Lírico Damas e Valetes on the 10th; and the workshop "Unveiling Masters and Mistresses" with master Cristina Andrade on the 14th.

On the 15th and 16th, Paco opens its doors and windows, takes to the streets, and celebrates Christmas in a poetic and playful way. Paco's Christmas will include performances by the Coral Edgard Moraes, the carnival block O Bonde, Grupo Matulão de Dança, Paz Brandão, Raquel Vasconcelos, and maestro Marco César with an enchanting Christmas recital. All events are free and outdoors.

The museum's Christmas program includes a free workshop on popular toys from the 19th to the 22nd and a celebration of master Nascimento do Passo's birthday on the 28th.

On the 29th, concluding the program, Paco do Frevo will host its pre-New Year's Eve event with the theme "Party, Faith, and Frevo," featuring Afoxé Omo Nilê Ogunjá, Maracatu Encanto do Pina, and Maestro Spok inviting Beto Ortiz, Claudionor and Nonô Germano, Lu Maciel, Nilson Amarante, and Surama Ramos. It's a daytime program, and entrance is entirely free.

In a solidarity initiative with Casa Zero, in partnership with the Municipality of Recife, Recentro, Rede Globo Nordeste, and Paco do Frevo, the museum is collecting toys until December 23rd, which will be donated to 400 children in communities in Recife.

DECEMBER 7 | CAVALO MARINHO ESTRELA BRILHANTE DO CONDADO

Directly from Condado, in the North Forest of Pernambuco, the Cavalo Marinho Estrela Brilhante, a folk play symbol of popular street theater founded in 2004, will perform at Paco do Frevo with its dramatic, musical, and choreographic performances. It will be at 7 pm, at Praça do Frevo (third floor), with access through the museum ticket (R$ 10 full and R$ 5 half).

With figures singing, dancing, reciting, improvising, interacting, and wearing masks, suits, hats, feathers, collars, or animal frames, Estrela Brilhante do Condado is led by matriarch master Nice Teles, the first woman to lead the Cavalo Marinho play. She is the daughter of the late master Antônio Teles, known as "Mestre Rabequeiro."

Comprising 23 people, including technicians, musicians, and participants, the performance brings together songs, praises, human and fantastical characters in a cultural narrative from the Zona da Mata. It is a true popular play that speaks of the past and present life of a people. A popular tradition that has been kept alive thanks to the continuous work of perpetuating the preservation of the play by Estrela Brilhante do Condado.

DECEMBER 10 | RECITAL OF THE BLOCO LÍRICO DAMAS E VALETES

Damas e Valetes de Olinda is a lyrical block founded by 13 friends in 2014. Today, it has 38 members, including an orchestra with 15 musicians, flag-bearers, and a choir with five women. Under the direction of conductor Júlio César Soares, the recital marks the conclusion of the group's vocal technique training, with a repertoire of carnival block frevos. It will be at 4 pm, at Praça do Frevo, with access through the museum ticket (R$ 10 full and R$ 5 half).

DECEMBER 14 | UNVEILING MASTER CRISTINA ANDRADE

The last "Unveiling Masters and Mistresses" workshop of 2023 — a formative action of the Paço do Frevo School — highlights the work of master Cristina Andrade, a Living Heritage of Pernambuco. A master of ciranda, she is also involved in popular festivities such as pastoril, Carnival bear, São João flag, and Lapinha.

The workshop will be held in three parts: a sharing of the master's journey through speeches, photo exhibitions, and significant moments from her biography; a practical-formative moment where participants can make accessories used in pastoril; and, to conclude, an artistic presentation by the Estrela Brilhante de Água Fria pastoril, led by master Cristina and her daughters.

It will be from 2 pm to 6 pm, in the Nelson Ferreira Room (first floor of the museum), and the pastoril presentation, at Praça do Frevo (third floor). Registration is free and can be done through this link.

DECEMBER 15 AND 16 | PACO'S CHRISTMAS

Paco's Christmas is a time of gathering, praise, and revelry with an outdoor, free, accessible, and inclusive program. In a spectacle that takes to the street and the museum's windows on an enchanting night, the Coral Edgard Moraes, O Bonde Bloco Carnavalesco Lírico, Grupo Matulão de Dança, Paz Brandão, Raquel Vasconcelos, and maestro Marco César, with his Chamber Orchestra, will evoke masters like Capiba, Edgard Moraes, Antônio Maria, and Nelson Ferreira, along with Christmas classics and the Pernambuco songbook: maracatu, baião, pastoril, and Frevo.

Paco do Frevo's Christmas party is a time to celebrate music, dance, and poetry, evoking Recife, pastoril, Frevo de Bloco, Frevo de Rua, and popular culture, culminating with the representation of the Queima da Lapinha and its ritual of transitioning from the Christmas to the Carnival cycle. The public will have two days to enjoy, on the 15th and 16th, always starting at 5:30 pm.

FROM DECEMBER 19 TO 22 | CHILDREN'S WORKSHOP "A TOY FOR A THOUSAND STORIES

With free registration, the Paço do Frevo School offers the workshop on popular toys "A Toy for a Thousand Stories," led by art educator Adélia Oliveira. Aimed at children aged 10 and above, it will be from the 19th to the 22nd, always from 2 pm to 6 pm, with registrations through this link.

In the workshop, Brazilian stories, work songs, experiences involving the vocabulary of traditional games, affective memories, and creativity will be explored. Each day will bring a new creation, a popular learning, a praise to the act of recognizing in a toy its thousand possibilities of play. Children will also construct popular toys: cloth dolls and dolls, hand-painted kites, 5 Marias bags, and barangandão.

DECEMBER 28 | BIRTHDAY OF NASCIMENTO DO PASSO

Under the leadership of Master Landinha, the Paço do Frevo receives a special celebration in honor of Nascimento do Passo, an icon who defined the movements still used today by those who fall into the Frevo step. With the participation of the master's former students and the group from Paraíba, Frevoada, the event will take place from 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm. The link for registrations will be announced soon on Instagram (@pacodofrevo) and on the Paço do Frevo website (pacodofrevo.org.br).

DECEMBER 29 | PACO'S PRE-NEW YEAR'S EVE

To conclude 2023, Paco do Frevo hosts its free pre-New Year's Eve event. With the theme "Party, Faith, and Frevo," starting at 11 am, performances will include Afoxé Omo Nilê Ogunjá, founded in 2004 in Ibura, and Maracatu Encanto do Pina, one of the most important nations of Maracatu de Baque Virado, founded in 1980. Following, the museum welcomes Maestro Spok inviting Beto Ortiz, Claudionor and Nonô Germano, Lu Maciel, Nilson Amarante, and Surama Ramos.

PACO DO FREVO - Recognized by Iphan as a reference center in actions, projects, transmission, safeguarding, and valorization of one of Brazil's main cultural traditions, Frevo. Acknowledged as intangible heritage by Unesco and Iphan, Frevo is an invitation to celebrate life through the activation of memories, personalities, and artistic languages. At Paço do Frevo, these find their maximum expression, maintaining actions of diffusion, research, and education in the areas of dance and music, accessories, and Frevo agremiations.