Feira de Mangaio

Clara Nunes · from the album Esperança, 1979 · composed by Sivuca and Glorinha Gadelha

Few Northeastern Brazilian songs describe an open-air market in as much detail as this one. Curiously, it wasn't written in the Northeast: Sivuca and his wife, Glorinha Gadelha, created the song while living in New York — the lyrics were finished inside a McDonald's on Seventh Avenue. First recorded by Sivuca himself, the song became a classic in Clara Nunes's voice.

Listen to the song

Feira de Mangaio (Lyric Video)

Listen to the whole song at least once. It's a baião — a traditional Northeastern rhythm, closely related to forró — and the lyrics are practically a list of the products sold at an open-air market in the countryside of the Northeast.

Vocabulary

Products and scenes from the market

Portuguese	Meaning
a feira	the open-air market — very common in Brazilian towns and cities, usually weekly
o mangaieiro	a peddler who sells small assorted goods (from "mangaio," a Northeastern word for that kind of stall)
o bolo de milho	corn cake
a cocada	a sweet made with grated coconut and sugar
a rapadura	unrefined cane sugar, sold in solid blocks
a farinha	cassava/manioc flour, a staple food in the Northeast
a graviola	soursop, a tropical fruit
a panela de barro	clay pot
o sanfoneiro	the accordion player
a renda	lace (the handmade textile)

Cultural context

🗽 A Northeastern song written in New York
Sivuca (Severino Dias de Oliveira) was one of the greatest instrumentalists and composers of Northeastern Brazilian music, with an international career that included years living outside Brazil. "Feira de Mangaio" was born from an idea his wife, Glorinha Gadelha, had during an English class in New York — she kept working it out mentally on the subway, until she finished the lyrics sitting in a diner in the city.

🧺 What is a "feira livre"?
The feira livre (open-air market) is a tradition in practically every Brazilian city: stalls set up outdoors, usually once a week, selling everything from fruit and food to clothes, crafts, and regional products. In the Northeast, the feira is also a social gathering spot — with music, traditional food, and neighbors catching up, exactly as the song describes.

Grammar

"Tem" — existence and location

In the song, the second part describes the market using "tem" over and over — the colloquial way to say that something exists or is present in a place (equivalent to "há," which is more formal and barely used in everyday speech).

Structure	Example
Tem + noun + place	Tem um sanfoneiro no canto da rua. (There's an accordion player on the corner.)
Tem + noun + gerund	Tem uma senhora fazendo renda. (There's a lady making lace.)

Important: in this sense, "tem" doesn't change in the plural — it's always "tem," even if there's more than one thing (unlike a regular verb like "ter," which would agree with the subject). Compare:

Tem uma banca de frutas ali.	(one thing)
Tem várias bancas de frutas ali.	(several things — "tem" stays the same)

Exercise 1

True or False?

Based on what you heard and read above, choose V (True) or F (False).

"Feira de Mangaio" foi composta no interior do Nordeste do Brasil.

Sivuca e Glorinha Gadelha eram casados.

A letra da música descreve os produtos vendidos numa feira livre.

A feira livre é uma tradição rara, presente em pouquíssimas cidades do Brasil.

Clara Nunes gravou a música no álbum Esperança, de 1979.

Exercise 2

"Tem" — describing a place

Complete the sentences with "tem" and the word indicated, describing an open-air market.

1.(barraca) de frutas em cada esquina.

2.(música) tocando o dia inteiro.

3.(gente) vendendo comida típica.

4.(artesanato) de todos os tipos.

Exercise 3

Listening comprehension

Listen to the song again (video above) and answer in Portuguese, using your own words — don't copy any line from the lyrics, describe what you understand.

1. What kinds of products do you imagine are being sold, based on the rhythm and mood of the song?

2. How would you describe the rhythm of the baião? Is it similar to any other rhythm you've heard in this course?

3. What instruments do you recognize in the song?

Question 1

Free answer — the lyrics mention typical foods (sweets, cassava flour, rapadura), everyday objects, and even animals, all sold at a Northeastern market.

Question 2

Free answer — baião usually has a strong, upbeat beat, closely related to forró and xote.

Question 3

Free answer — usually accordion, zabumba (bass drum), and triangle, the classic instruments of baião/forró.

Exercise 4

Discussion and personal production

Answer in Portuguese, using your own words.

1. In your country, is there something similar to the Brazilian feira livre (a weekly outdoor market with food and local products)? Describe it.

2. Did you find it curious that such a Northeastern song was written in New York? Do you think being far from home can make people miss their own culture more?

3. Using "tem," describe three to five things that exist in your neighborhood or city (shops, people, places, etc.).