Fortaleza Local Customs

In the Northeast especially in Fortaleza it is strange but they never refer to themselves as Brazilian they are Cearensians. The know you are a forener right away and they know who the people from Sao Paulo and the people from Rio or the south of Brazil are. I have gotten to the point where my Portugese is pretty good, but in reality I do not speak Portugese, nor Brazilian Portugese, I speak Cearensians Portugese.

Forro is the typical dance and music of Brazilian's northeast, especially Ceara. The band is usually made up of 3 musicians, one playing the triangle, one the accordeon and one the drum.

The name forro has the following origin: When the British built Brazilian's railroad system at the end of the 19th century, they would have a ball once a month and invite the locals (how nice of them...) and have the bring their music. The sign on the door where the ball was held read 'For all', which the Brazilians then pronounced forro.

Pirata on Monday night is great place to dance and listen to forro.

The local workmanship is known all over Brazil, and in other countries as well. It has a great variety of handi­crafts such as laces, labyrinths, handmade embroidery', leather. straw and wood articles. The most traditional one is the lace, being the lace-maker woman, like the raft sailor, one of the symbolic characters of the state. This lace is produced mainly in the countryside and distributed to the coastal areas. Ceará also presents a rich diversity of carnauba straw, bamboo and liana plant in the confection of baskets, hats, purses and other objects, metal, wood and textile handicrafts. Textile ¡5 the principal unit for the production of hammocks. Leather crafts are another tradition in the state, and Fortaleza and Juazeiro do Norte are the main produc­ers.
You can find them at the already mentioned Tourism Center and also at the Mercado Central, with 600 outlets. Besides these two, from 5 o'clock pm on, you can find at Beira Mar (beach side) a permanent fair, where the local handieraft is also sold.
With the most modern textile pole in Brazil, Fortaleza shows great development in the confection sector, having thirteen thousand factories and small industries. The main concentration of shops is on Monsenhor Tabosa Avenue, which offers the most varied confection articles with nearly four hundred stores. On the same avenue at 777, you can find Pallácio da Micro Empresa, support center for small businessmen from the state (SEBKAE). The Central de Artezanato Luisa Távora, in Aldeota, is a space for permanent art work expositions, with stores, snackbars and play­ground. In the Parangaba distric you can find Maraponga Mart Moda, the biggest center of ready-to-wear clothes in the state.

As the lacework,the handcraft style of collored sand bottles is a work of lots of patience and love for what you do!
As the lace,it takes hours,and also sale as a cheap original souvenier from the area.
I'll show a picture here and add more in a travelogue for those interesting in take a look at the technic as well!

I'm not sure if there's another country whith this kind of handcraft( lace work),using a very unsual kind of instrument,thiskind of handcraft is called " RENDAS (laces) DE BILBO,you can find it also in the state of Santa Catarina,where most of the imigration at the coast are from Acores (Portugal),than,i think maybe they brought this art style from their region in Portugal.
But,in the northeast coast of Brazil,you also find these wonderful women,working everyday in it,mostly old women,because,as one of them told me,the young generation doesn't want to learn this tradition anymore ( a pitty ),the art of the laces survived centuries as the most beautiful and incredible handcraft style in Brazil,in my opinion.
Though the hard work of doing the laces (take many days to finish a table map or even a set of small napkins),the prices are very cheap,specially in the small villages,it's the most tipical art custom.
Take a look and you'll understand,first,the instrument used to make the laces.

She knows all the secrets of this work,because,since she was a small girl,she seat with her mother and,step by step,she saw how the lace is done,and so as her mom from her mom,and she understood the meaning of this art:love & dedication!

streams of Brasiliennes along the Beira Mar sidewalk 5 or 6am until...

Generally the tip is included but if not 10% is standart