By Jack Arnhold, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – This Saturday, July 7th, Cidade das Artes (City of Arts) in Barra da Tijuca, will be hosting a huge barbecue and beer festival in conjunction with ‘Festival Cervejeiro Carioca’ (Carioca Brewers’ Festival). Along with the mountains of barbecued meat and barrels of beer, there will also be presentations by celebrity chefs, performances by bands and DJ sets lasting well into the evening.
For a flat fee of R$230, customers will have access to nine hours of open barbecue, featuring an American barbecue, a ground fire pit and a huge grill. There will be a variety of high-quality meats on offer such as Patagonian lamb, American style pork ribs, hog roast, fillet steaks, roast beef and much more.
Many expert chefs will be on-hand to ensure that this meat is cooked to perfection. The barbecue hosts include celebrity chef Jimmy Ogro, pitmaster Carlos Tossi, the barbecue champion of Brazil, Fernando Schima, and Rodrigo and Tenente, both of whom were part of Masterchef Brazil.
To wash it all down, there will also be a nine-hour open bar of premium refreshments both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. The premium open bar will include big names such as Absolut vodka, Beefeater gin and Jameson whiskey. Attendees will also get two free glasses of Colorado beer in addition to as much Budweiser as they can drink.
There will also be two workshops on offer throughout the day to sate the public’s interest in barbecue culture. The first workshop will be aimed at the deboning and preparation of meats, being offered by the ‘Clube da Carne’ (Meat Club) and the ‘Associação Brasileira de Angus’ (Brazilian Association of Angus). The workshop will be fully interactive and will demonstrate all the cuts that will be served on the day.
In the other, the cutlery master and owner of ‘Imperial Cutelaria’ (Imperial Cutlery), Alexandre Barbosa, will teach everything about the practice of sharpening and maintaining knives. Techniques for the best use of the equipment will be demonstrated, as well as ways of simple but effective maintenance.
In addition to the unlimited barbecue, beer and spirits being released, attendees will also have access to as much water and soft drinks as they want. There will also be lots of activities for the younger ones, including a dedicated ‘Espaço Kids’ (Children’s Space) with attractions such as a mechanical bull, bouncy castle, football, trampolines, a playground, air hockey, table football and workshops.
To soundtrack the event, the organisers have brought in two fantastic bands: Grecco, who will be performing excellent covers of classic rock songs; and Corcel Magico, who are known for their folk renditions of popular hits both contemporary and timeless. In addition to the bands, there will also be DJ sets by DJs Saddam, Marcelinho da Lua and Daniel Faria.
This is set to be a great ‘winter’ festival, and is sure to bring back happy memories for anyone who used to attend the Rio craft beer festivals in Gávea or Niteroi’s summer beer festival last year. The ‘Cidade das Artes’ (City of Art) recently played host to an important creative conference that attracted entertainment professionals from around the world.
What: BBQ & Beer Festival
When: this Saturday, July 7 from 1PM – 10PM
Where: Cidade Das Artes, Av. das Américas, 5300 – Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro – RJ, 22793-080
Entrance: R$230; For more information, go to the event page.