Carmo Park and Cherry Blossom in Brazil
Elenice talks about Carmo Park in Sao Paulo,
famous for its trees, and a local Cherry blossom festival.
Hi Elenice.
You said that there is an interesting park…
close to your neighborhood in Sao Paulo.
What’s the name of this park?
Oh… we call it Parque de Carmo.
Yes, that’s the one.
Parque de Carmo.
Where is this park?
It’s actually very close to the place where I live.
Eastern suburbs of Sao Paulo.
Right, eastern Sao Paulo.
How far is it from the city centre?
From the city center…
I guess it should take about 40 minutes
on the subway train.
You need to get off at Corinthians-Itaquera station.
Plus a walk or short car ride from the station.
Oh… I can see it on the map now.
Corinthians-Itaquera station.
Yes, this area is called Itaquera.
There is a subway station…
A shopping center…
And the famous Corinthians stadium.
You’ve heard of Corinthinas, haven’t you?
Football club…
Yes… yes… I know…
Corinthians… of course…
it’s pretty famous even outside of Brazil.
And I know the stadium too.
It was built recently for the World Cup.
Right. So, the park is less than a half-hour walk
from the stadium.
Actually, there are two different parts in the park…
they are right next to each other.
One is the city park, called Parque do Carmo.
The other one is much larger.
It used to be a farm, or “fazenda”, in Portuguese.
You know, it’s been my dream
to visit a real Brazilian fazenda.
Nice… I see…
Well… the farm was established in the 19th century.
They used to grow coffee and livestock here.
And the official name of the park now is…
Parque Natural Municipal Fazenda do Carmo.
The park is pretty big, actually.
I guess, it will take a few hours
to walk around.
It’s actually the third largest park in Sao Paulo.
So, what are the most interesting things you can see in the park?
There are about 6 thousand types of trees, plants and flowers here.
Perhaps, the most interesting ones are…
Okinawa cherry trees and eucalyptus.
There is also a place to see wildlife…
a lake with different types of fish and birds.
The lake is not a natural one, by the way.
It’s artificial.
Yes, the cherry trees.
Tell us more about them, please.
The cherry trees made the park really famous.
We have a Cheery blossom festival here every year.
It started with a Japanese community in Sao Paulo.
And now people from Sao Paulo state
and other states of Brazil come to see it.
Cherry blossom festival?
Interesting.
Yes, it’s called Festa da Cerejeira in Portuguese.
Right… in Japanese
it is called “sakura matsuri”.
Or they also say “hanami” for “cherry blossom viewing”.
So, what do local people do at the festival?
Well, people just sit under the cherry trees…
or walk around the park…
and enjoy the view.
There are also shows with music…
traditional Japanese dance performances.
Yes, sounds interesting.
We can try Japanese food…
learn more about Japanese culture.
When is the Cherry blossom festival?
In Japan, it is usually in March or April.
What about Sao Paulo?
Well… in Sao Paulo
it happens every year
on the 31st of July,
and on the 1st and the 2nd of August.
It has been celebrated for 35 years now.
I see. I have another question.
Is it the only place in Brazil to see cherry blossom?
Oh… definitely not.
There are many other places.
In the State of Sao Paulo…
In Parana…
Another famous place would be Curitiba…
the capital of Parana state.
But did you know that Sao Paulo…
our city has the second largest number of
cherry trees outside of Japan?
Second largest in the world.
After Washington D.C.
Wow, I didn’t know that.
It’s pretty fascinating.
Thanks, Elenice.
You’re welcome.
Now, you tell me…
Do you have any places to see cherry blossom in your city/region?
Yes, we do.
If you go to… you can see…
No, we don’t have it here, in…
But… we have…
It’s really amazing.
Head image by asreis at Flickr, CC-BY
