Part of the City of Eugene’s Art in the Parks program, the festival will feature performances from West Coast drum groups playing Brazilian samba
Drum groups at the festival
VamoLá - Seattle
Portland Samba - Portland
Samba Ja - Eugene
Duck Samba
Location: Eugene Riverfront Park
https://maps.app.goo.gl/VjVM7XeNEkNVs4Ni6
500 Ferry St, Eugene, OR 97401
Date: August 1, 2026
Time: 11AM - 5PM
Price: FREE
AXÉ (ah-SHEH) comes from the Yoruba language and is colloquially used in Brazilian culture to express good vibes, agreement, and wellbeing. It gives name to a genre of music from Bahia, Brazil.
Join us for a FREE Samba Festival at Eugene's Downtown River Front Park on Saturday, August 1st!
Part of the City of Eugene’s Art in the Parks program, the 2026 AXÉ Samba Festival will feature performances and interactive workshops from leading West Coast drum groups performing Brazilian samba-reggae and other styles. Performing drum groups include: VamoLá (Seattle), Portland Samba (Portland), and Samba Ja (Eugene).
In addition to lively Brazilian drum performances, there will be a dance workshop from Barbara Lima, a Eugene-based Brazilian dancer, choreographer, and artistic director.
Adriana Portela, conductor of Didá Banda Feminina, the first all-female samba-reggae group, will be there to lead some percussion arrangements.
There will also be food and drink vendors and representation from community partners including Travel Lane County, the City of Eugene Cultural Services, the Downtown Neighborhood Association, BRASA UO, and Museum of Natural and Cultural History.
2024 Axé Percussion Festival
Performances
Portland Samba is a professional performance ensemble. Our shows feature energizing rhythm, costumed dancers, and dynamic visuals. The mission of Portland Samba is to cultivate community, excellent musicianship, and deepening understanding of Brazilian music and culture.
Vamo La means “Let's Go!” in Portuguese, and we do just that — we get people going! Our Seattle-based Brazilian drum and dance ensemble brings the spirit of Carnaval to life through vibrant parades and performances. Our main focus is on Rio-style samba, but we perform a variety of other music and dance styles from all over Brazil.
Adriana Portela is a Brazilian percussionist from Bahia and the first woman to conduct a female samba-reggae band in Brazil, Didá Banda Feminina. Adriana will lead arrangments and share her expertise in samba drum and dance.
Barbara Lima is a Brazilian-born performer, choreographer, and film artist based in Oregon. She performed at the Rio 2016 Olympic Opening Ceremony, and has danced at venues including Théâtre de la Ville in Paris and Kunsten Festival des Arts in Belgium. She will lead a dance workshop for all to join!
With over 30 years combined Capoeira experience Professor Brucutu (Davey Jackson) and Formada Angoleira (Heather Figi) are dedicated lifetime practitioners of the Brazilian Martial Art of Capoeira. Eugene Capoeira will share a captivating demonstration of their art and movement.
We are excited to perform along with all of the groups and we appreciate the effort put into making a wonderful community event.
Food Drink Snack
Eugene Kettle Corn
Sammitch
Viva! Vegetarian Grill
Confetti Confections
X Squeeze Me
Chula Beans
Flying Fancy Cotton Candy
Community
BRASA UO
City of Eugene Cultural Services
Travel Lane County
Eugene Downtown Neighborhood Association
Museum of Natural and Cultural History
Getting to Riverfront Park
Bike: Preferred method in the summer! If biking is an option we highly recommend riding to the park. There will be additional bike racks setup at the festival in addition the the ones already at the park.
Bus: Visit https://www.ltd.org/riders-guide/routes-maps-schedules/ and plan to bus over to 5th Street Public Market then walk on over to park!
Drive: If you are able to make the 10 min walk you can park at Alton Baker Park for free and take the footbridge to the festival. It is a nice walk.
If you park at Alton Baker Park, there could be a free pedicab available to take you to the festival!
The pedicab will be making trips to offer a helpful and fun way to get to the festival but there is not a set schedule so we cannot guarantee a pickup time.
There is also plenty of parking around the park but most of it is paid parking. It is a few dollars to park for several hours and is easy to pay at the pay kiosks using your license plate number.
Green shows public parking and yellow shows festival site.
Or you can find street parking in the neighborhoods surrounding if you are able to walk a few extra blocks to the festival.
THANK YOU TO OUR OFFICIAL SPONSORS!
Sponsored by City of Eugene Art in the Parks
Hopeful Not Optimistic Fund of Oregon Community Foundation
PenFed Credit Union
Delta Chiropractic
The Kiva
The Copy Shop
Thank you for the fundraising contributions!
Cafe Yumm
Hot Mama’s Wings
Offering a great free community event requires a lot of resources and we can use your help! Any support is appreciated and can include money, supplies, equipment or volunteering time.
Your sponsorship or contribution will help a lot
If you would like to contribute to help Samba Ja put together this exciting festival you can donate directly using the codes below or reach out to us to discuss ways you can contribute. We are a local 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN 83-0702157).
PayPal
Or let us know how you would like to contribute to the festival or if you have any questions!
We have heard some of our responses end up in junk folders
Please check if you have not received a reply from us and reach back out to us if you don’t see a reply