The tenth anniversary of the South Florida Brazilian Festival on the beach Sept. 18 and 19 will be the event’s boldest yet with pop-rock icon Smash Mouth headlining the show on Saturday night, global DJ/music producer Bruno Martini closing the show on Sunday night, and an impressive weekend lineup that includes Onze: 20, James McWhinney of Big Mountain and Vibes Up Strong, Vitor Kley, Paula Lima, Zeeba, Isra, among others. The two-day festival will take place just south of Fort Lauderdale Beach Park (1005 Seabreeze Blvd.) from noon until 10pm.
For ten years, the South Florida Brazilian Festival has aimed to promote a message of global unity. The multicultural festival, which typically gathers a diverse crowd of thousands annually, features global cuisine from a range of local restaurants, dozens of exhibitors, a kids zone, Footvolley tournament, skate ramp exhibition with a ramp raffle and live performances by artists, musicians and dancers. The festival is the Southeast region’s largest multicultural festival.
Following a challenging year when live performances were sparse due to the global pandemic, this year’s festival will not only celebrate the event’s tenth anniversary, it will also applaud the world’s ability to unite against the pandemic.
“This year’s festival and our message of global unity has taken on even greater meaning in light of the year we have all endured,” said Luciano Sameli, the founder and organizer of the Brazilian Festival. “We hope this festival will be a joyful oasis for our community to come together.”
Headlining band Smash Mouth is likewise celebrating a major anniversary this year; 2021 marks 20 years since the blockbuster release of “Shrek” and Smash Mouth’s eponymous third (GOLD) album in 2001. For the festival, the band plans to play all their catchy fan favorites in addition to a brand-new single they released in May called “Camelot.” The song is a creative collaboration between Smash Mouth and Timmy Trumpet, one of Australia’s beloved DJs known for mixing jazzy trumpet and bright piano with electronic dance music.
While Smash Mouth will be the star Saturday night, Brazilian dance-house DJ Bruno Martini will close out the concert Sunday. Martini has seen a meteoric rise with roughly 1 billion streams on Spotify. He has produced music with Timbaland, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry.
Two Latin Grammy-nominated musicians — Paula Lima and Vitor Kley — will also perform. Paula Lima — a weekly radio host, judge on Brazilian Idol and a Samba superstar – – will grace the stage for an energetic, funk concert Saturday. Brazil’s trailblazer and pop-prodigy in Portugal, Vitor Kley will perform Sunday.
In addition this year’s diverse lineup will include: Adelmo Case (axe music); Two Latin Grammy Winner Marlow Rosado (salsa/merengue),Isra (Latin rock/rap); Latin Gram-my Nominated Onze: 20 (reggae); James McWhinney of Big Mountain and Vibes Up Strong (reggae/rock/roots); Isra (Latin rock/rap); and Zeeba (Brazilian Popular Music), the voice behind of the greatest hits of ALOK and Bruno Martini.
Last year, in spite of the litany of challenges caused by the pandemic, the festival sur-vived and was the only Brazilian festival in the nation to occur live. In order to take place, the festival moved to Fort Lauderdale, limited the number of attendees and strict-ly followed CDC guidelines. This year, the festival is rebranded bolder and even more eclectic. Sameli said the festival is proud to now call Fort Lauderdale home, and thrilled to have Publix as its official tenth anniversary sponsor.
“We pushed through and are determined to succeed,” said Sameli. “Mayor Trantalis and the City of Fort Lauderdale have been an incredible blessing. We are grateful that the City has embraced our festival. Mayor Trantalis recognizes the importance of our mission to promote multicultural unity. And the move to Fort Lauderdale has allowed us to host the festival on one of South Florida’s most beautiful beaches.
Tickets to this year’s festival can be purchased online for $10 at BrazilianFestival.org. Kids under the age of 12 are free. The festival will take place from 12pm to 10pm on Sept. 18 & 19 at 1005 Seabreeze Blvd.
