Choro Festivals in Brazil

Choro does not live only in old records, rare scores, or in the memory of the great masters. It happens in the present, in rodas, stages, workshops, schools, regional gatherings, clubs, and festivals spread throughout the country.

Since 2024, when Iphan recognized choro as Cultural Heritage of Brazil, it has become even clearer that the genre is less a legacy locked away in the past than a living practice, shared and constantly recreated.

In this movement, choro festivals occupy a central place. They bring together masters and students, connect generations, build audiences, sustain workshops, give visibility to fundamental instruments, and help take choro far beyond the Rio-São Paulo axis.

What follows is a mapping of some of the main festivals, gatherings, and initiatives connected to choro in Brazil: active events, hybrid festivals, pedagogical experiences, and historical projects that have marked the circulation of the genre in different regions.

1. Semana Seu Geraldo de Música — Leme/SP

Held in Leme, in the interior of São Paulo state, Semana Seu Geraldo de Música is a choro festival with a strong pedagogical and artistic focus. The event pays tribute to Seu Geraldo and is rooted in the musical life of the city, which is connected to the trajectory of musicians such as Nailor “Proveta” Azevedo.

Workshops, ensemble practice, choro rodas, and performances form the heart of the program. According to the Choro Heritage Database, Semana Seu Geraldo had six editions between 2011 and 2016, with teachers from the Escola Portátil de Música and Casa do Choro. After a period without being held, it has recently reappeared in programs by the Leme City Hall and through its own Instagram profile.

Why it matters: it reveals choro as a practice of education, coexistence, and oral transmission, not merely as a stage performance.

Useful links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/semanaseugeraldo/

2. Festival Memória do Cavaquinho Brasileiro — São João del-Rei/MG

Connected to the Memória do Cavaquinho Brasileiro project, dedicated to researching, preserving, and disseminating the history of the cavaquinho in Brazil, this festival has taken place in Rio de Janeiro and São João del-Rei, Minas Gerais. The Minas Gerais edition combines workshops, concerts, choro rodas, and performances in the city’s cultural spaces. In 2025, it reached its 7th edition, with free programming in São João del-Rei.

Why it matters: it places the cavaquinho at the center of the discussion. In choro, the instrument is much more than accompaniment: it participates in the rhythmic foundation, harmonic movement, phrasing, and the genre’s own soloist history.

Useful links: Website: https://www.memoriadocavaquinho.com.br/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/memoriadocavaquinhobrasileiro/

3. Festival Internacional de Choro de Niterói — Niterói/RJ

Among the recent events dedicated to the genre, the Festival Internacional de Choro de Niterói is one of the most relevant. Promoted by the Niterói City Hall and the Niterói Art Foundation, it offers, always free of charge, concerts, workshops, tributes, jam sessions, and educational activities.

The 2026 edition was announced as the 4th edition, taking place from April 23 to 26 at Reserva Cultural de Niterói. In previous years, the festival brought together Brazilian musicians and international guests, establishing Niterói as a contemporary hub for choro.

Why it matters: it combines public programming, musical education, artist circulation, and dialogue between tradition and new generations.

Useful links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/choroniteroi/

4. Festival Choro Jazz — Jericoacoara and Fortaleza/CE

Festival Choro Jazz is not, strictly speaking, a choro festival, but it holds an important place in Brazilian instrumental music. Held since 2009, it brings together choro, jazz, Brazilian music, improvisation, and regional repertoires, always with a strong educational dimension.

Divided between Fortaleza and Jericoacoara, it usually features free concerts, workshops, and performances with major names in Brazilian music. It is a good example of how choro dialogues with other languages without giving up its own identity.

Why it matters: it shows choro as an open language, capable of engaging with jazz, Brazilian song, instrumental music, and regional traditions.

Useful links: Website: https://chorojazz.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chorojazz/

5. Festival Sesc de Chorinho e Sanfona de Rosal — Bom Jesus do Itabapoana/RJ

In the district of Rosal, in Bom Jesus do Itabapoana, Rio de Janeiro, the Festival Sesc de Chorinho e Sanfona brings together choro, accordion, and Brazilian instrumental music. The free public program mixes local artists with well-known names from the instrumental scene. In 2025, Sesc RJ announced an edition featuring Paulinho do Bandolim, Silvério Pontes, Marcelo Caldi, Dudu Oliveira, and Trio Madeira Brasil.

Why it matters: it highlights the dialogue between choro and other Brazilian traditions, especially accordion music and the instrumental culture of the countryside.

6. Festival Choro da Casa — Ribeirão Preto/SP

Festival Choro da Casa was born from the Choro da Casa Project in Ribeirão Preto, which brings together musicians and lovers of the genre through rodas, performances, and cultural activities, strengthening the local instrumental scene. In 2025, the festival reached its 12th edition, with programming at Teatro Minaz, including a talk and concert by pianist Hercules Gomes alongside Choro da Casa.

Why it matters: it portrays an organized local scene, with continuity, community action, and a direct connection between roda, stage, and audience formation.

Useful links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/choro_da_casa/

7. ChorandoSemParar — São Carlos/SP

One of the most important Brazilian festivals connected to choro and instrumental music, ChorandoSemParar was created in 2004 by Projeto Contribuinte da Cultura, in São Carlos, with the aim of promoting choro, related genres, and Brazilian instrumental music.

The program combines performances, educational activities, initiatives in public schools, and free concerts in squares and other public spaces across the city. The 2025 edition was announced as the 21st, paying tribute to Tom Jobim.

Why it matters: it is a long-running festival with an educational vocation and a strong presence throughout the city through instrumental music.

Useful links: Website: https://contribuintedacultura.com.br/festival-chorandosemparar/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chorandosemparar/

8. Festival Mel, Chorinho e Cachaça — Viçosa do Ceará/CE

In Viçosa do Ceará, Festival Mel, Chorinho e Cachaça is hybrid by nature: it brings together music, gastronomy, tourism, local honey and cachaça production, and regional culture. Although it is not exclusively dedicated to choro, chorinho has historically been part of its identity and musical program, making it a good example of how the genre also circulates in broader cultural festivals linked to tourism and the creative economy.

Why it matters: it shows choro beyond strictly musical circuits, associated with local culture, public celebration, and the appreciation of regional products.

Useful links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melchorinhoecachaca/

9. Choro Festivals of EPM / Casa do Choro — Rio de Janeiro and other cities

The Escola Portátil de Música and Casa do Choro are key institutions in musician training, archive preservation, repertoire dissemination, and the transmission of choro language. The Choro Heritage Database records the Choro Festivals of EPM/Casa do Choro as important pedagogical experiences, held in different cities and later gathered around the Casa do Choro headquarters in Rio de Janeiro. These festivals helped establish a model of choro immersion, with classes, ensemble practice, musical coexistence, and rodas.

Why it matters: it represents the institutionalization of choro teaching in the 21st century without breaking away from the roda and intergenerational transmission.

Useful links: Choro Heritage Database: https://acervosvirtuais.ufpel.edu.br/choropatrimonio/acoes-de-ensino/festivais-do-choro-da-epm-casa-do-choro/

10. Festival BH Choro — Belo Horizonte/MG

A consolidated event in Belo Horizonte, Festival BH Choro reached its 14th edition in 2025, with free programming at Praça Duque de Caxias, in the Santa Tereza neighborhood. Focused on choro and Brazilian instrumental music, it brings together groups and artists from the Minas Gerais and national scenes in public concerts.

Why it matters: it attests to the strength of choro in Minas Gerais and to the role of free urban festivals in building audiences.

Useful links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bhchoro/

11. Festival de Choro de Avaré — Avaré/SP

In the interior of São Paulo state, the Festival de Choro de Avaré was an important experience. According to the Choro Heritage Database, it began in 2011 and reached its 8th edition in 2018, bringing together rodas, performances, and workshops with renowned musicians. The city has a historical connection to the genre, especially through the work of Jamil Caram, Luiz de Paschoal, Antonio Teixeira de Abreu, and Altino Toledo. The same database, however, states that the Clube do Choro de Avaré has been inactive since 2018, the year of its last festival.

Why it matters: it appears here as a historical record, not as an active festival. It is an example of how regional clubs and festivals helped bring the practice of choro into the interior of Brazil.

Useful links: Choro Heritage Database: https://acervosvirtuais.ufpel.edu.br/choropatrimonio/associacoes-e-clubes/clube-do-choro-de-avare/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clubedochoroavare/

12. Festival de Choro da Serra Gaúcha — São Francisco de Paula/RS

In São Francisco de Paula, Rio Grande do Sul, Festival de Choro da Serra Gaúcha presents concerts, workshops, and choro rodas in different spaces throughout the city. In 2025, the event’s profile announced its 4th edition, with free admission, workshops, and live Brazilian music performances.

Why it matters: it proves the circulation of choro in southern Brazil and the vitality of regional scenes that combine education, rodas, and public programming.

Useful links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/festivaldechoro/

13. Festival SP Choro in Jazz — São Paulo/SP

Another hybrid event, Festival SP Choro in Jazz brings together choro, jazz, and instrumental music. In 2025, its fourth edition was announced at Teatro Paulo Eiró, in São Paulo, curated by Fabio Bergamini and Roberta Valente. The festival works precisely in the territory of connections: choro tradition, improvisation, jazz language, and contemporary instrumental music.

Why it matters: it affirms choro as a language of dialogue, invention, and recreation.

Useful links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/festivalspchoroinjazz/

14. Festival de Chorinho de Praia Grande — Praia Grande/SP

A free municipal program, Festival de Chorinho de Praia Grande is organized around National Choro Day, celebrated on April 23, the birthday of Pixinguinha. In 2026, the Praia Grande City Hall announced the 7th edition, with activities from April 23 to 26 in different parts of the city.

Why it matters: it is a good model of how municipal governments can use April to celebrate Pixinguinha and bring the public closer to choro.

15. Festival de Choro João Pernambuco — Pernambuco

Festival de Choro João Pernambuco pays tribute to João Pernambuco, a composer and guitarist who was fundamental to the history of the Brazilian guitar. According to the Choro Heritage Database, the first edition took place in 2016 at Pátio de São Pedro, in Recife. The event is connected to the Isto É Choro! movement and to the celebrations of João Pernambuco State Choro Day in Pernambuco. In 2024, the state program included the 5th Festival do Choro João Pernambuco, in Tacaratu and Petrolândia.

Why it matters: it shifts the map of choro toward Pernambuco and highlights the importance of the guitar, João Pernambuco, and other northeastern names in the formation of Brazilian music.

Useful links: Festival Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/festivaljoaopernambuco/

16. Festival Clube do Choro — Brasília/DF

Based at the Complexo Cultural do Choro in Brasília, Festival Clube do Choro is connected to the history of Clube do Choro de Brasília, one of the most important institutions for the preservation and dissemination of the genre in Brazil. Its program brings together artists from several generations of Brazilian music. Although it is broader than a strictly choro festival, its connection to Clube do Choro and the Escola Brasileira de Choro Raphael Rabello justifies its presence in this mapping.

Why it matters: Brasília is one of Brazil’s major institutional hubs for choro, and Clube do Choro played a decisive role in the appreciation and heritage recognition of the genre.

Useful links: Clube do Choro Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clubedochoro/ Complexo Cultural do Choro Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/complexodochoro/

17. Festival da Escola de Choro de São Paulo — São Paulo/SP

The 1st Festival da Escola de Choro de São Paulo took place in 2024 at Vila Itororó, with free programming including classes, masterclasses, concerts, a film screening, and choro rodas. Escola de Choro de São Paulo is an initiative focused on teaching, researching, and practicing the genre. Even though it is not yet established as an annual event, the festival matters as a sign of pedagogical renewal in the São Paulo scene.

Why it matters: it shows choro as a language taught, studied, and practiced by new generations, in dialogue with schools, rodas, and cultural spaces.

Useful links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/escoladechorosp/

Final Notes

The events gathered here do not all share the same profile. Some are directly dedicated to choro; others are instrumental music festivals, pedagogical gatherings, or hybrid events in which choro occupies an important place. One useful division would be:

Festivals directly connected to choro

• Semana Seu Geraldo de Música
• Festival Internacional de Choro de Niterói
• ChorandoSemParar
• Festival Choro da Casa
• Festival BH Choro
• Festival de Choro da Serra Gaúcha
• Festival de Chorinho de Praia Grande
• Festival de Choro João Pernambuco

Festivals with an instrumental or pedagogical focus

• Festival Memória do Cavaquinho Brasileiro
• Choro Festivals of EPM / Casa do Choro
• Festival da Escola de Choro de São Paulo
• Festival de Choro de Avaré

Hybrid festivals or festivals in dialogue with other languages

• Festival Choro Jazz
• Festival Sesc de Chorinho e Sanfona de Rosal
• Festival Mel, Chorinho e Cachaça
• Festival SP Choro in Jazz
• Festival Clube do Choro

In the end, choro festivals show that the genre is not just a tradition preserved in archives. It remains alive in real encounters: in the student arriving with an instrument on their back, in the master teaching a baixaria, in the roda that forms after the concert ends, in the listener discovering Pixinguinha for the first time, and in the young musician realizing how much future choro still has ahead of it.

Choro keeps happening. And each festival is a way of keeping this conversation open.

Sources

• Choro Heritage Database / Base de Dados Choro Patrimônio (UFPel Virtual Collections). Records of festivals, clubs, and educational initiatives connected to choro, including Semana Seu Geraldo, the EPM/Casa do Choro Festivals, Clube and Festival de Choro de Avaré, and Festival de Choro João Pernambuco. Available at: acervosvirtuais.ufpel.edu.br/choropatrimonio
• Official festival channels: websites, Instagram profiles, and city hall portals cited in each entry above. Sources for editions, dates, and recent programming.
• Iphan: recognition of choro as Cultural Heritage of Brazil in 2024.