Obrigada Boa Nova !
Who would have guessed that the central line could take you as far as Brazil? On Friday 22nd, Leyton Jubilee Park, in East London, began to resemble the birthplace of samba and baile funk.
Words by Zoé Caillard
On this warm day, people gathered at Boa Nova to place Brazilian culture at the centre of London, and I can attest that the heat was not the only thing the two places had in common. From the middle of the afternoon, the crowd, mostly made up of Portuguese speakers, was standing barefoot on the grass, hiding in patches of shade from the heat or playing volleyball, while heavy bass from the main stage was already starting to vibrate through their chests. The dress code? Yellow and green colors, preferably from football shirts, with a bonus point if bodies and faces were covered with glitter.
What stood out about Boa Nova festival was its remarkably diverse lineup, and its broad, non-reductive view of Brazilian culture, as the organizers did not try to represent its music in one single genre. From the main stage to the second one, from one moment on the next, the artists alternated constantly between pop, soul, samba, bossa nova, drum and bass, baile funk, and much more.
The crowd started to gradually get bigger toward the end of the afternoon, and the smell of grilled meat made the Brazilian barbecue a popular first stop for new arrivals. My personal favorite: the so-called “big man picanha steak,” that, sadly, I discovered a small woman can finish way too fast.
Nyron Higor’s set subtly changed the atmosphere on the main stage. While I could not understand what the artist said in Portuguese, the crowd’s reaction, running toward the stage, was clear enough to catch that the night had officially started. Behind the artist, visuals of Rio de Janeiro’s festival and of the Corcovado appeared on giant screens alongside archives of iconic football goals.
As the sun began to set, music grew louder, and caipirinhas started to spill while Marie Froes’ performance marked another shift in the day. As she appeared on the stage, every phone in the area was raised in the air to record the social media star. It is clear that the famous singer attracted one of the festival’s biggest crowds, as almost every attendee could sing all the lyrics. Her set represented a soft and contemporary side of Brazilian music, contrasting with more traditional influences heard earlier in the day.
By the evening, anticipation for the star Joao Gomes changed the atmosphere. Before he even appeared, the presenter only had to say “Joao…” for all fans to scream “Gomes!” back immediately. The pop singer, popular for his representation of popular folk-inspired sounds from the Northeast, who won over young Brazilians, also got to the London diaspora. The audience sang almost every lyric word for word with Gomes, while the instruments, particularly the saxophone, pushed the performance into something much bigger than standard pop.
At the same time, Boa Nova’s second stage had an entirely different energy. Dedicated mostly to baile funk and electronic music, it felt more like a club than a festival tent. The constant dancing, with skills I could not dream of reaching any time soon, distinguished the festival from most of the usual British landscape.
DJ Patife brought one of the most interesting performances of the day. Known as one of the pioneers of mixing samba with drum and bass, his set connected older Brazilian electronic experimentation with the younger artists performing later in the evening. Bronka followed with a darker and more electronic approach to baile funk, while Caio Prince closed the stage with an acid, almost psychedelic version of Sao Paulo funk that felt chaotic, in the best possible way.
What ultimately made Boa Nova memorable was not simply the music itself, but the atmosphere surrounding it. For one day, the festival turned London into a small piece of Brazil: loud, free, uninhibited, and impossible to reduce to one single sound.
Boa Nova Festival announced it’s return for 2027. Sign-up for tickets here.