Lille host the Festival internacional do Forró de Raiz
From 11 to 14 September 2025, Lille will be dancing to the rhythm of Brazil’s Northeast! 🇧🇷
As part of the 2025 Brazil-France Season and Fiesta, this unique festival will showcase traditional forró music from the Northeast, with four days of music, dance and cultural events.
The programme includes eight concerts, featuring the legendary Elba Ramalho, Mestrinho and Santanna o Cantador, as well as dances, rodas de sanfona, screenings, debates, cordel literature, woodcut printing and workshops for all ages.
Based in the Grand Sud, the festival’s main venue, the event will bring together Brazilian artists and French audiences around a shared passion for Brazilian popular culture. A festive, engaging and warm event to celebrate the links between Lille and the Brazilian Northeast.
Program
Thursday, 11 September
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille
7pm – 8pm | Opening ceremony and signing of the action plan for the nomination of forró to UNESCO World Heritage status (by invitation only)
8pm – 10pm | Forró and Quadrilha dance with the Biscoitinho Company (free of charge – booking required)
Friday, 12 September
Le Grand Sud, Lille
→ Jackson de Pandeiro room
10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. | Opening of the International Forum of Forró de Raiz with Joana Alves and Henrique Sampaio
10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. | Discussion: Charter of guidelines for the preservation of traditional Forró matrices
5pm – 6pm | Opening: Exhibition* ‘Por Amor ao Forró’, with João Batista
→ Luiz Gonzaga room
3pm – 4pm | Documentary screening – in partnership with CineArts Brasilis
– São João é coisa nossa (Brazil-France / 2024 / 15 min)
– No tom dos oito baixos (Brazil / 2019 / 20 min)
– Família Calixto (Brazil / 2012 / 25 min)
4pm – 5pm | Debates on the documentaries with Karim Soumaila, Henrique Sampaio, Luizinho Calixto, Denise Barreto
→ Main stage
7:30 p.m. | Concert – Del Feliz (Bahia)
8:30 p.m. | Concert – Écore Nascimento and Sandrinho do Acordeon (Piaui)
9:30 p.m. | Concert – Mestrinho (Sergipe) with Antônia Amorosa
10:30 p.m. > midnight | DJ Set – DJ Forró
Exhibition ‘Por Amor ao Forró’ / Friday, Saturday and Sunday / 10 a.m. > 7 p.m. (free admission)
Saturday, 13 September
Le Grand Sud, Lille
→ Marinês room
10:00am – 11:30am | Workshop: Sanfona Nordestina (accordion) with Natan Nunes. Basic accordion skills required.
3pm – 4.30pm | Workshop: Cordel literature with Anne Karolyne – Brazilian popular poetry printed in illustrated booklets.
4.45pm – 6.30pm | Workshop: Woodcut printing with Josafá de Orós – Traditional printing technique using woodcuts.
→ Jackson de Pandeiro room
10:00 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. | Lecture: Producing tradition: the role of the producer in traditional Forró with Thiago Gomes
11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. | Round table: The contributions of dance festivals in Europe to traditional Forró with Henrique Sampaio and Antônia Amorosa
4:30pm – 5pm | Dance presentation with Cacau Moutinho and Lydie Fruleux
→ Anastácia room
3pm – 4.30pm | Workshop: Forró pé-de-serra dance with Karla Oliveira and Leneeton de Oliveira (Paraiba) Traditional forró, open to all levels, no partner required.
→ Main stage
6.30pm | Presentation: Quadrilha Junina with Lydie Fruleux from Cie Biscoitinho (France)
7pm | Concert – Anderson Fidélis and Giseldo Romeiro (Alagoas)
8:00 p.m. | Concert – Santanna, o Cantador (Pernambuco)
9:00 p.m. | Concert – Elba Ramalho and Orquestra Sanfônica Balaio Nordeste (Paraíba)
11 p.m. > midnight | DJ Set – DJ Forró
Sunday, 14 September
Le Grand Sud, Lille
→ Marinês room
10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. | Workshop: Sanfona Nordestina (accordion) with Natan Nunes. Basic accordion skills required.
2pm – 3.30pm | Workshop: Xylogravure with Josafá de Orós – Handcrafted printing technique using woodcuts.
3.50pm – 5.30pm | Workshop: Discovering regional musical styles of forró with Salatiel Camarão and Tereza Accioly
→ Luiz Gonzaga room
3:30pm – 5pm | Workshop: Cordel literature with Anne Karolyne – Brazilian popular poetry printed in illustrated booklets.
→ Anastácia room
2pm – 3:30pm | Workshop: Contemporary Forró dance with Cacau Moutinho from the Biscoitinho Company – Open to all levels, no partner required.
3:50pm – 5:30pm | Workshop: Forró pé-de-serra dance with Karla Oliveira and Leneeton de Oliveira (Paraiba) Traditional Forró, open to all levels, no partner required.
→ Salle Jackson de Pandeiro
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. | Plenary session: Closing of the International Forró Forum
12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. | Round table: ‘Group teaching and the world of Forró – the practice of accordion orchestras in Rio Grande do Norte’ with Cláudio Araújo
→ Main stage
5pm – 5.45pm | Presentation: Luizinho Calixto e o fole 8 Baixos (Brazilian diatonic accordion), with the participation of Bira Delgado
6pm | Concert – Alexandra Nícolas (Maranhão)
7pm | Concert – Messiê Forró (França)
8pm | Concert – Deusa Nordestina do Forró, Jarbas do Acordeon and Cláudio Araújo (Rio Grande do Norte)