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On December 27 to January 3, in Pratigi, Bahia, the 15th edition of the biggest electronic music festival in Brazil took place, and one of the best in the world, the Universo Paralello, celebrating its 20 years on the road!
In 1997/1998, Juarez Petrillo aka Swarup started to produce a party called Universo Paralello.
The first edition as a festival took place in 2000, a three-day New Year’s Eve in Goiás.
After the festival became a success, the need for a new home arose… And what place would be better than Bahia?
Picture: Coletiva.a.mente
Picture: Coletiva.a.mente
The festival’s infrastructure was great, hosting 20,000 people for seven days, certainly not an easy task! At the campsite, people could be heard talking in English, Spanish, and even other languages that I was unable to identify, enabling a wide variety of cultures in our celebration!
Picture: Coletiva.a.mente
At the festival there were several Indians showing a little bit of their culture, with handicrafts and body painting.
Picture: Coletiva.a.mente
Another point worth mentioning was the presence of beautiful children at the festival. The kids had fun with recreational activities, games, classes with circus professionals at Circulou…
“The Universo Paralello means family to me, and all this artistic egregore is necessary and fundamental in my life and of my family.” Fernando Ribeiro aka Technology, 31, Porto Alegre – Rio Grande do Sul.
Picture: Coletiva.a.mente
Picture: Coletiva.a.mente
Picture: Coletiva.a.mente
Picture: Coletiva.a.mente
Picture: Coletiva.a.mente
Picture: Coletiva.a.mente
Picture: Coletiva.a.mente
Picture: Coletiva.a.mente
Picture: Coletiva.a.mente
Picture: Coletiva.a.mente
Picture: Coletiva.a.mente
Picture: Coletiva.a.mente
Picture: Coletiva.a.mente
Picture: Coletiva.a.mente
Picture: Coletiva.a.mente
The parallel city also had healing areas, damage reduction team, reiki, massage, acupuncture, yoga, slackline, and art exhibitions.
Picture: Coletiva.a.mente
“I went there expecting a lot, but I got there and it was much more than I could imagine, it was really a totally Parallel Universe! One thing that got me was when I was meditating with the Diksha crowd and we were going to have a guided meditation, and in the end we needed to finish this meditation and look into the eyes of our guide who was sitting in front of us, and one of the guides was passing by, he looked like this and said: “You can do whatever you want, you can cry, you can scream, you can laugh, remember that you are in a Parallel Universe.” When he looked at us and said that, I even get goosebumps to say because it was very remarkable, he looked, he spoke that way, it marked me a lot. It was a place that I arrived and had so much to do, so much to explore, so much that I was even a little bit lost, I didn’t want to leave, I wanted to stay another 10 days, and I can’t wait to be there again, because it’s wonderful and the only thing I expect is to be able to enjoy it even more, with even more special people, because it was really much more than I could have expected, much more than I could ever imagine! ” Adrielli Garcia Silva, 21, Cosmópolis – São Paulo.
Picture: Coletiva.a.mente
Picture: Coletiva.a.mente
Picture: Coletiva.a.mente
In the decoration you could find recyclable materials, showing that, what one day was garbage, the next can turn into something of great beauty!
This year the festival had seven stages: Main Floor, 303 Stage, UP Club, Tortuga, Chill Out, Palco Paralello, and the new Tropikalien, with a wide variety of artists and styles.
“For me, what I liked the most in this edition was the diversity, several stages for all tastes, the Pirata and Tropikalien stages were the ones I liked the most, it seemed that in the middle of a festival like UP you could feel at the same time in another festival. It was for sure, the best edition I participated in, full of activities, incredible decoration and the energy of the Main Floor indescribable! Looking forward to the UP 16 now! ” Gislaine Alves, 28, Nova Serrana – Minas Gerais.
The responsible for opening the main stage was the Mexican Shove! He did very well, pleasing the audience on this stage, which highlighted the Psychedelic Trance. There the meditation field takes place, the magic, in its greatest intensity. The decoration of the psychedelic peacock was made by Artescape from South Africa.
Great names were there, from Old School to new sounds, such as: Antonymous, Astrix, Avalon, Back To Mars, Braincell, Burn in Noise, Confo, Dark Soho, Dickster, Earthling, Elowinz, Ekanta, Flegma, Headroom, Hypnocoustics, Grouch, Ital, Labirinto, Lucas, Lunatica, Mad Tribe, Mandelbroat (the new project of Lucas O’Brien and Earthling), Melting Point, Mekkanika, Middle Mode, Morten Granau, M-Theory, Nevermind, No Comment, Phaxe, Protoculture, Rica Amaral, Rinkadink, Shanti, Shotu, Spirit Architect, Striker, Talamasca, Vegas, Virtual Light, Zyce, and much more…
My favorite live set on the main stage was by The First Stone! They opened with a remix of The Sound of Silence, it was exciting! It was also amazing to see the union of Logica, which happens only at the festival.
Picture: Coletiva.a.mente
Picture: Coletiva.a.mente
Picture: Coletiva.a.mente
Picture: Coletiva.a.mente
The 303 Stage is the favorite one of a big part of the public, as it’s strategically located next to the beach, providing an airy atmosphere and a beautiful view! The stage also received great artists, with highlight to: Earthspace, Ectima, Javier Bussola, Magma Ohm, Max Grillo, Microdose, Pin, Shekinah, The Big Brother, Tijah, among others…
My favorite live set at 303 Stage was of Rinkadink! The South African played a mind-blowing Old School set!
The UP Club had an incredible decoration, the three wise monkeys, and great known names, such as: Adana Twins, Anderson Noise, D-Nox, Eli Iwasa, Falabella, Flex B, Flow & Zeo, Gabe, Gabriel Boni, Khainz, Marcelo Fiorela, Mau Mau, Sevenn, Simple Jack, Victor Ruiz, Vintage Culture… Highlight for the super presentations of Alok, Bhaskar, and Swarup.
Picture: Josh Rezende
Picture: Coletiva.a.mente
Picture: Coletiva.a.mente
Picture: Coletiva.a.mente
The Chill Out featured great artists: Goathi, Multisambofonico, Murilo Ganesh… The most important name is always the veteran Rica Amaral, who is largely responsible for the dissemination of alternative culture here in Brazil. At the time of his presentation, the audience goes into trance with his music!
The Palco Paralello gains more prominence in each edition, and the person responsible for the opening was none other than the singer Caetano Veloso. Rock, reggae and alternative music concerts took place in this area, with names such as: Os Mutantes, Mad Professor, Ponto de Equilíbrio, Pedra Branca…
Picture: Coletiva.a.mente
The person responsible for closing the festival, as it could not be otherwise, was the creator of this great celebration, Swarup!
It’s always a great joy to be part of this celebration, to meet old friends, and make new ones from all over the world, friends of a lifetime, regardless of time or distance, when we meet, the energy is always the same! I couldn’t think in a better place to start the new decade!
I want to thank the photographers Josh Rezende; Lauro Medeiros, the creator of Coletiva.a.mente, congratulations on this beautiful project that brings together great talents; and the master Murilo Ganesh.
And of course, to Juarez Petrillo, for providing us this magical experience, in a paradise called Universo Paralello!
Picture: Coletiva.a.mente
“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them; disagree with them; glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”
In memory of Dario Achkar.
Picture: Murilo Ganesh
Universo Paralello Festival
https://www.instagram.com/universoparalello/
Written by Marina Tavares
https://www.instagram.com/_marina_tavares/
Pictures by
Coletiva.a.mente
https://www.instagram.com/coletiva.a.mente/
Josh Rezende
https://www.instagram.com/josh_rezende/
Murilo Ganesh
https://www.instagram.com/muriloganesh/
This post is also available in: Português