From the 1960s, Brazil experienced a development in its economy that was consolidated by new symbols of modernity. In the field of arts, we can highlight that this renewal took place in relation to the rise of television as a new communication vehicle capable of reshaping the behavior and the relationship of the public with the cultural goods produced at that time.
One of the most fruitful examples of this new relationship can be seen with the realization of music festivals. The Brazilian music scene was home to new artists who lived in a period politically marked by a democracy that allowed this type of event to be held. At the same time, Brazilian music came into contact with new musical influences that opened doors for the consolidation of a youth culture.
In the early 1960s, TV Tupi in São Paulo produced a program called “Hora da Bossa”. The presentation of these programs endowed with musical novelties was made possible by a time when several concerts in universities, bars and radios took place simultaneously. This musical effervescence inspired TV producer Solano Ribeiro to hold the “I Festival da Música Popular Brasileira”. The tournament, played in 1965, was won by Elis Regina with the song “Arrastão”.
TV Excelsior, the first to hold the event, ended up losing the program with the proposal that took Solano Ribeiro to TV Record. This station invested in holding festivals and in producing two other programs in which Brazilian music seemed to be divided into two segments. One of them was Bossaudade, where the oldest and typically Brazilian musical styles were honored. The second was Jovem Guarda, where young people rocked by rock enjoyed the sound of Roberto and Erasmo Carlos.
These two programs ended up managing an intense rivalry at festivals where nationalists and experimentalists offered the most varied sounds to the public. Among other artists, we can highlight the emergence of the group Os Mutantes and singers such as Caetano Veloso, Tom Zé and Gilberto Gil. Another very rich aspect was also consolidated with the so-called protest music, which had, among other artists, Geraldo Vandré and Chico Buarque de Hollanda.
With the stiffening of censorship during the military dictatorship, festivals ended up losing their viability through the repression that was instituted. One of the most famous cases of this change took place during the 1968 festival, when singer Geraldo Vandré won over the audience with the song “Caminhando”. The government censors, before the announcement of the winners, prohibited Vandré from being considered the author of the best song.
The realization of that type of program ended up bringing to light a type of experience that transformed the very organization of the television medium. Young people, by differentiating themselves from adults and children, conveyed the idea that different consumer niches could be reached through the media. In addition, he formulated an aesthetic ideal that still guides many television programs today. Youth became an idea sold in beautiful faces and intense situations experienced through TV.
Even for a short period of time, the festivals marked a period of intense cultural activity that pointed to different historical transformations. Television would become a space for public discussion where the events that took place on it would be the subject of debate by people on the streets, at home and at work. In addition, the youth generation of that time would manifest in the “frenzy” of festivals the change in behavior in times of democracy.