Today in Salvador, most everyone will be heading down to the beach at Rio Vermelho with their presents for Iemanjá, orixá of the sea, Mother of the Waters and the Fishes.
According to lore, Iemanjá is very beautiful and vain, and she covets offerings such as mirrors, make-up, combs, perfume, flowers, and jewelry. Her colors are light blue and white, and she is sometimes personified as a mermaid. There are images of her all over Bahia. Some people will spend months creating elaborate baskets of offerings, while others will add their simple offering to the many baskets in the Weigh House at Rio Vermelho. The baskets will be piled onto hundreds of small boats and rowed far out to sea and placed in the waters. It is truly a beautiful sight. It is said that if your offering sinks, Iemanjá has accepted your gift and will protect you. If it doesn't... well, perhaps its time to talk to a mãe de santo.
The festival began back in 1923, when a group of fisherman offered presents to the goddess of the sea because it had been a particularly bad fishing season.
Even if you are not into candomblé, this is an event not to be missed because you will experience many of the wonderful aspects of Salvador, including capoeira rodas, batuque do afoxé and samba, "as baianas vendendo acarajé", the joie de vivre of Bahia in festival, and, of course, lots of fitas.
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