Surubí National Festival

The Color of Surubí

There is a day on which the festival begins, and then the event is officially opened before the local, provincial and national authorities. A show called Expo-Goya is presented along with the great celebrations. This is a display of regional and agricultural products of the entire littoral area, available for visitors.

Nights start to last longer for those who live the usual rhythm of this city and fill their hours with sounds and music performed by local and regional artists. Thus, the famous "surubí song", an icon of the city and its most representative fish, is played at each local radio station, hotel and restaurant.

Everything acquires a different atmosphere. It is the deadline for applications and eagerness is seen on every face, especially on the anglers´. Hundreds of them wander about the streets searching for "morenas", the bait used to tempt the surubí.

There exists one day on which registration for all anglers is closed. That is a favorite day amongst the women of Goya. The election of the queen and the princesses who are to represent the city during the entire year is carried out in the evening. After the difficult task of judging the candidates, the audience bids their farewell to the former queens to give way to the future sovereigns. Afterwards, the anglers take a rest.



Today is "the" Day

Hundreds of motorboats from every nook in the country and the neighboring countries begin to wander the streets of the city in search for gas stations in order to fill their tanks. Large, small, modern or old, all of them have a chance and any of them may get lucky. Maybe that is why fishing has captivated man for thousands of years and still does.

The most expected moment in the festival happens at the starting line at around 3pm. Until then, adrenaline accelerates the hear beat even for those who do not have anything to do with fishing. With purely sapukai screaming, the anglers salute thousands and thousands of visitors who encourage, shout, wave and wish luck to these fanatics in search for their dream.

The evening in Goya seems to have slowed down. It only acquires color and movement again with the fashion parade watched by thousands of people.

The very big full moon gets ready to be the only companion for the anglers scattered along the huge river and its streams in search for the largest surubí.

After the day of fishing, the authorities of the contest will officially announce the end of the festival on the local radio stations and the VHF equipments. At that moment, the anglers will return to port to be welcomed once again with applause and praises.

Success belongs to everyone, as the fish are released back into the water. Therefore, the Surubí Festival will take place once and again.