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Brazilian Pride on Display in Midtown

By DNAinfo Staff on September 4, 2011 2:21pm

By Meghan Keneally

DNAinfo Reporter

MIDTOWN —Saudé.

Midtown felt more like Rio Sunday as New Yorkers celebrated the 27th annual Brazilian Day Festival.

Spanning Sixth Avenue from 42nd Street to Central Park and 46th Street from Eighth to Madison avenues, the festival is a daylong event marking the anniversary of Brazil’s independence.

Vendors hawking everything from food to clothing and flags started setting up around 10 a.m. and were expected to wrap up around 7 p.m.

Organizers said that one million people attended the festivities last year, the largest Brazilian event outside of Brazil.

Crowds, likely to be in the thousands, gathered around a stage set up on 42nd Street for a series of performances from musical and dance groups throughout the day including country singer Luan Santana and samba group Exaltasamba.

Another stage, on 46th Street and Madison Avenue, was set to host DJs and other musical acts.

Known as “Little Brazil,” West 46th Street is unsurprisingly the hub of activity for the festival. The first celebration was hosted on the street in 1984.