Virada Sustentável, which began this Thursday (16) and continues until next Sunday (19), seeks to bring visitors closer to topics such as climate change, conscious consumption and biodiversity. After five years, the festival returns to Rio de Janeiro, a city that has already hosted important climate-related events such as the Earth Summit in 2012, Eco 92; and Rio+20.
This year, the event takes place just a few days before the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), scheduled for November in Belém, Pará.
After 55 editions in several cities in Brazil, the festival celebrates 15 years with free programming and activities in various locations throughout the capital. Among them, the Banco do Brasil Cultural Center Rio de Janeiro (CCBB RJ), Galeria Scenarium, Casa Clima, Fundição Progresso and Solar dos Abacaxis; the Museum of Afro-Brazilian Culture of Little Africa (Muhcab); the Garota de Ipanema Park and Sesc Rio.
Always in partnership with the United Nations (UN) in Brazil, Virada Sustentável also celebrates the construction of a network of partners that help disseminate messages, mobilizing territories and society in favor of “an agenda that is increasingly conscious and connected with the future”.
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CCBB
The official opening was scheduled for CCBB RJ, where the Virada Sustentável Forum debates will take place today and tomorrow. The intention is to bring together climate experts and activists with partner brands and organizations in conversations and dialogues open to the public. Seven panels will divide the themes in the CCBB Concept Space and Multipurpose Room, on the 3rd floor of the building.
“More than 30 inspiring leaders will participate in talks and discussions about climate change, sustainable entrepreneurship, green economy from the perspective of Carnival and festivals, universal sanitation, ESG practices, urbanism and ancestral community practices, among other topics”, informed the organizers in the publicity text.
The Forum’s program includes names such as Diego Carbonell, Director of Sustainability at Liga RJ; Thaysa Santos, from Rede Favela Sustentável and manager of the Terra Afetiva Initiative; Regina Tchelly, from the Favela Orgânica initiative; Ivani Rosa da Silva, from Quilombo Cafundó Astrogilda; Alan Brum, community leader from Morro do Alemão, activist and doctoral candidate in urban planning; Adriana Bocaiuva, from the Basin Committee of the Guanabara Bay Hydrographic Region and the Maricá and Jacarepaguá Lagoon Systems (CBH Guanabara Bay), and Rita Fernandes, from Sebastiana, the first association of Street Blocks in Rio de Janeiro.
In honor of the composer and conductor Tom Jobim, on this first day of the festival, there will be a performance by singer Paula Morelenbaum, who sang alongside the artist for ten years; the cellist and arranger, Jaques Morelenbaum; and singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Dora Morelenbaum.
The program at CCBB RJ also includes a show by the Latin Grammy winner with the band Bala Quero, singer and composer Zé Ibarra, who recently released the album Afim. The public will also watch a performance by Tanaka do Pife e Grupo, a group made up of fife, accordion, zabumba and triangle with a repertoire of original songs and reinterpretations of great masters such as Luiz Gonzaga, Dominguinhos and Jackson do Pandeiro.
A space dedicated to workshops and training activities was prepared in the CCBB Educativo room. The public will be able to participate in guided tours to discover the architectural richness of the historic CCBB building, which also has another highlight: the exhibition A sculptor of meanings, by the artist Flávio Cerqueira. There are around forty bronze works highlighting poetry from the real world with questions about class and identity.
Girl from Ipanema Park
Regional culture is a highlight of the park’s programming for all tastes with performances by Roda de Jongo from the Afrolaje Cultural group; from the circus show Brasil Mostra sua Cara, from Trupe Anima Circ; from Maracatu de Baque Virado with percussionists and dancers from Rio Maracatu, with tunes from some Nations of Maracatu de Baque Virado from Recife; and the show by the Rio de Janeiro forró band made up of female musicians Tocaia.
In addition to these, Natasha Llerena and Alulu Paranhos. The closing ceremony will be performed by the singer Mãeana, with the show Mãeana canta JG, from João Gilberto to João Gomes, mixing elements of tropicalism, MPB and references linked to the female universe.
House Climate
In Praça Tiradentes, in the city center, during Casa Clima’s programming, the public will be able to participate in workshops and lectures with Virada de Impacto, curated by Impact Hub Rio. Nearby, there is a circuit of activities at Solar dos Abacaxis, with exhibitions and workshops close to the famous Feira da Rua do Lavradio, the Feira do Rio Antigo, curated by sustainability entrepreneurs and thrift stores.
On the same street, visitors will be able to see three exhibitions, one of which shows the reuse of objects purchased at the Praça XV fair.
Also in the center of the capital, Fundição Progresso will have the 2nd Sustainable Favela Festival, with the theme Favela no Centro das Soluções Climáticas. The production is by Rede Favela Sustentável, made up of a thousand members, community mobilizers and technical allies from more than 300 favelas. The forecast is that more than 100 sustainability initiatives from favela communities across Greater Rio will take part. Also at the event, a COP30 letter from favelas will be launched.
At the Museum of Afro-Brazilian Culture of Little Africa (Muhcab), in the port region, the program includes exhibitions such as the work Protagonisms – memory, pride and identity, which seeks to illuminate and value the memory of ancestors and Afro-Brazilian culture. The curatorship is by Erika Monteiro, Phelipe Rezende and Stephanie Santana. In the same space, the public will be able to attend a seminar on black men’s health and visit the Orobós Fair.
Mangrove
At Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, south of Rio, there will be lectures on conscious fashion and activities such as releasing crabs and planting seedlings. Biologist Mário Moscatelli, who has worked at the site for over 36 years, will be responsible for the action in the Lagoa mangrove.
Food
In the culinary area, the program includes a solidarity dinner at Refettorio Gastromotiva, in Lapa, city center. In addition to being a school restaurant, it is a community cafeteria, which serves food to socially vulnerable people.
“The menu was prepared by the space’s kitchen team and volunteers interested in participating in the activity will be responsible for serving the public”, informed the organizers.
