Brazil's Rodeo Girls

Every summer, almost 1 million people descend on Brazil’s Festa do Peão de Barretos, a ten-day celebration of all things rodeo − and for the young women from rural areas, it offers a shot at national stardom

- Tracy Ramsden

Beyond the glamour of Ipanema beach and the hardship of the favelas, Brazilian women are finding empowerment by embracing the increasingly popular cowgirl culture. Each August, crowds gather at the second-largest rodeo in the world, after Canada’s Calgary Stampede, for pageants, horseback competitions and live performances by the country’s top sertanejo (Brazilian country music) stars.

Cowgirl life may be more closely associated with US states like Texas and Arizona, but Brazil’s rodeo scene is fast becoming world-renowned. While most of Brazil lies in recession, in rural areas big money still flows through, thanks to cattle ranching, soy planting, and sugarcane harvesting, which drives the Brazilian economy. The Festa do Peão de Barretos (Portuguese for ‘cowboy festival of Barretos’) began in 1955 to mark the transfer of cattle from pasturing in nearby states of Minas Gerais, Goiãs, Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso, to slaughterhouses in Barretos. Today, as a celebration of Brazilian rural culture, it offers men, and increasingly women, the chance of national stardom.