São Paulo – Arab culture and cuisine in a beautiful ecological paradise. It is the 20th edition of the Arab Festival, due April 26th to 30th, in the municipality of Rio Quente, in the interior of the state of Goiás. The Rio Quente Resorts complex comprises four hotels, eight spa pools, bars, restaurants, and a water park. For the festival, the premises will be decorated and guests will be able to enjoy Arab cuisine, music, folklore, and dancing.
“Even though this is already the 20th edition, we always have new attractions, artists and groups, and an exclusive tropical menu with some Brazilian spice added to it,” explains the food and beverage complex, Edison Chirayama. “For this festival we have invited cuisine specialists Munira Kotait and Leila Sarkis Issa, who will present the wonders of Arab cuisine,” he says.
In addition to tasting tabbouleh, safihas, kibbehs, kofta and other Arab delicacies, guests will be able to watch artistic performances and take dabke and belly dancing lessons. And in order to get into the vibe of millenary Arab stories and tales, guests will be able to ask questions about their future using the age-old tradition of coffee ground reading.
According to Chirayama, the park usually receives many tourists from all over Brazil, in particular from the states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Goiás. Even though they are still short in numbers, foreign tourists show up as well, mostly from the United States and South American countries. “The festival usually accounts for 40% of occupation at the complex during the period,” says Chirayama.
The complex
The Rio Quente Resort is located at the bottom of the Caldas Novas mountain range, 170 kilometres away from state capital Goiânia, and receives approximately 1.8 million people a year. The complex includes Parque das Fontes (Fountains Park) – with eight hot springs, showers, ofuros and natural saunas, bars, restaurants, shows every night, the Hot Park, the largest water park in Brazil, including toboggans, a river with waterfalls, zip-line, rapelling, eco-diving, the Bird Land, and Cerrado Beach, the world’s largest running-water beach.
Information and reservations
Site: www.rioquenteresorts.com.br
São Paulo
(+55 11) 3512 4830
Goiânia
(+55 62) 3412 1515
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
