'For all': Illawarra's Brazilian community wants everyone to dance with them

The family would build large fires in honour of her grandfather as part of the celebration of rural life in Brazil.

Last year, Ms Pimenta, who has been in Australia 10 years, ran a Festa Junina event to bring the Brazilian community together, more than 200 people attended.

She says the driving force behind the event was to introduce her three-year-old son to the culture and music she grew up with in Brazil such as forro, a style of music from north-east Brazil, which is reminiscent of salsa.

Ms Pimenta says the name forro comes from US troops stationed in Brazil during World War II, who saw people dancing together and said "it's for all, everyone can go".

"All those characteristics of the Brazilian music and culture were quite unknown to Australia," Ms Pimenta said.

"Also my kid never knew, so I've got those instruments at home and I tried to show him how to like play, and also teaching him how to dance.

"He's only three. he's not very good, but on the weekend I was dancing with him."

Festa Junina, is an annual Brazilian celebration second only to Carnival, and on Saturday, June 15, at Seeker Brewing, the party will return to Wollongong.

"We wanted to showcase the culture to our kids, and also get the community together," Ms Pimenta said.

"The Brazilian community in Wollongong it was really big but it wasn't very united. We needed to get together and we just didn't know how."

The celebration is not just for Brazilian families Ms Pimenta said.

"This is a great opportunity for people that appreciate something different you know, finding out a little bit more about another culture.

"It's very Brazilian focused but it's for all, literally the name of the band who's playing is actually called For All."

Everton Freitas remembers holding hands with a girl for the first time when he was six at a Festa Junina party.

This year he is helping to organise the event, he says it is a "Brazillian party".

"Predominantly people go to these parties to experience and taste food from different parts of Brazil and very traditional foods," Mr Freitas said.

"I would say a big part of the Brazillian community [in Wollongong], they are coming to this party because they feel like they're home."

The event will include a time for a traditional quadrille dance which Mr Freitas says is "so fun".

"Imagine a party with 200 people and 200 people doing the same moves and doing these traditional things.

"Everyone in the party, actually everyone go to this dance because it's very simple steps and very simple for people to follow along."

Telenovela-style dramas will be acted out, with all the thrills of affairs, break-ups and weddings taking place before your very eyes.

Mr Freitas says the biggest part of the day though is the food.

A small taste of the menu for Festa Junina will be pastels, a savoury snack fried in vegetable oil, churrasco, Brazilian-style barbecue, and bolo de milho, a sweet corn cake.

"I would love to have more people at this party, they should really have incredible times and incredible memories," he said.

"Some parties you don't feel welcome, but this party, I'm 100 per cent sure anyone that comes is going to feel very welcomed."