Escola de Samba Vai Vai (Vai Vai Samba School)
Vai Vai Samba School was established on January 1, 1930. The school originates from a group of samba dancers who performed on the sidelines at the games of a 1920s football team, “Cai-Cai”. The informative website vaivai.com reveals the meaning behind the symbols and colors of the school. For example, a sign that is often associated with the school is the Saracura. This is because the term is derived from the stream that passes through the Bixiga neighborhood where the "thin-legged" bird resides. Additionally, the most important symbols are those seen on the school's flags and logos: the crown and coffee branches. The article describes, "The crown symbolizes the royalty and magnitude of the black race, at that time it was common for black people to affectionately call each other “Hi My King, Hi My Queen”, and the coffee branches symbolize the greatest source of economic wealth in São Paulo at the time." Furthermore, the article explains the colors of the team by revealing, "Vai-Vai's colors are the same colors as the Cai-Cai team, inverted, that is, if Cai-Cai was White and Black, Vai-Vai fixed the colors to Black and White.
- Made history as the samba school with the most champion titles at São Paulo's Carnival as of 2020.
- Hosts an annual "Feast of Saint Benedict, of the Afro Achiropita Pastoral"
- Created a couple's team for Carnival 2025
- "Esquenta do Desfile" festival to celebrate the nearing time of Carnival
To learn more about the achievements of the school, you can visit their Facebook page here.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Written by Kalyssa Gillespie (Class of 2026)