Forró Bristol emerged in May 2014 from the desire to bring a part of Brazilian culture closer to us, here in the city of Bristol, UK. It was on a particularly nostalgic day, reminiscing over parties in Brazil that the idea arose between three friends: Carine, Cíntia and Sabrina. At the same time, Lucia and Alan (Associação Viva Brasil) were hoping to develop a similar project, having organized some parties previously. We then decided to form a collective – Forró Bristol.

The idea was always to create an authentic atmosphere as close as possible to the reality we remembered from Brazil. Many times we left with a heart full of love and with the feeling of a mission completed… other times there seemed to be nothing but obstacles, but we still managed to have some fun in the process. Things changed and over time, some people left and others joined to help the forró scene get stronger! Marco Aurélio with his charisma and dedication is a true dance fanatic and Ben, always our sound engineer! Soon we realized that something else was missing. In order for the parties to continue growing and for people to keep engaged, we needed to teach people how to dance. So began another phase of forró where we thank Anax (Forró Brincado) for accepting the challenge of moving every Monday from London to Bristol and teaching forró. With Anax, we have been lucky to learn from one of the most helpful, enthusiastic and collaborative people, and someone with an extensive knowledge of forró. 

There were a few years that were trickier for me to maintain the energy to continue as my two children arrived in our lives, and time became short… but there were always special people to make it happen and not let forró fizzle out: Maria, Erika, Mel, Andrea, Tony, Filipe, Mireia, Angelo, and Lizzie – all true enthusiasts and forrozeiros – soon became part of our first official Forró Bristol committee. There are so many other names of people who have helped on the journey that I’m reluctant to list them and forget someone… you know who you are and we send a huge ‘thank you’! Since then there have been to many places and had some unforgettable events. Many teachers have joined us here… our thanks to Jonathan (Forró Family) who was also with us for a whole year of classes… and now Dennis, our very first local teacher… but we keep the ball rolling and like to involve new faces and links from outside of Bristol, so we always have guests passing by. We love to organise parties; so the time has come for everyone to dance, enjoy the music and improve your dancing skills. Come and join us on the journey! It’s a wonderful community to be part of and a pleasure to bring so many lovely people together!

Big hug, Sabrina