That's because every single one of the city's police, medical workers, ambulances, utility trucks, and even school busses are making their way down the Independence Day parade route. And based on this experience, Campinas does overkill well.
After a long delayed start, the parade began with a proverbial flexing of the muscles that every country is allowed to do on their country's birthday. Every branch and regiment of the military and municipal police force marched down the street in full dress, lead by the (very good) Military Band. This includes bike cops, police dogs, and ambulance drivers among others.
Then we all waited some more and along came the corps of public employees. This being a national day off from work, I'm sure they were all thrilled to have to marching down the street waving at all those they service. The crowning moment - after all the power, gas, and electric workers and their vehicles passed by - was the parade of never-ending school-busses.
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| Arguably the worst part of the parade for all the kids trying to enjoy their day off of school. |
Now, I could be wrong, being that my Portuguese is still "developing," but I think these may have been new busses for the city's schools and this was their grand premier. The crowd's excitement was moderate at the beginning and faded exponentially with each subsequent vehicle.
There was yet another long mysterious break, at which point various marching bands and city-wide organizations had their moment in the pavement. I tried to use today as a practice session for future processional-like events I may want to photograph, such as Carnival, however, I may need a few more practices; parades are surprisingly challenging to photograph well. Regardless, here are a few shots from the rest of the event:
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| I'm pretty certain this is the Campinas chapter of the Harry Potter Alliance. But I don't speak Portuguese so I could be wrong. |
Happy 190th Birthday, Brazil!
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