Escuna Sound System 

Annual celebration since 2017

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Escuna Sound System was created as an ode to affection and the transformation of the Atlantic waters experience for racialised and dissident bodies to occupy the maritime space and float in joy and party.

 

It’s an experience that celebrates the waters of Todos os Santos Bay in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. We have been connecting the cultures of Bahian, Jamaican and other diasporic sound systems,

celebrating good music and hidden flavours in small paradises since 2017.  We sail aboard a traditional Soteropolitan schooner-type of boat.

 

We create a perfect environment for art and culture lovers who appreciate fun and beauty on the high seas. We expand the possibilities for bodies to dance on a dance floor that floats, and move, even if they are still. We abuse the winds in the hair and our disengagement with formality is total. 

 

We created an affective experience that became synonymous with fun, confidence and positive memories. Countless people on board had the courage to dive into the Atlantic waters for the first time in their lives at Escuna Sound System. We believe in this positive impact of reconnecting our bodies and minds with the present and future, breaking historically rooted trans-generational traumas.  

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The party lasts the whole day. We start at 8 am, with a breakfast that is already part of our signature. We propagate our sound waves throughout the Todos os Santos Bay during the whole day. We dance, dive in the open sea, stop for lunch on one of the islands, and return to Salvador with the sunset, around 6 pm.

 

The Escuna Sound System was created by me, and made since its first edition in partnership with Sista Kátia, an artist and urban connector, also from Bahia.

 

We created a movement. Since its first edition, where we appropriated the Todos os Santos Bay to create a specially curated musical experience, a number of other parties on schooners have emerged, following our format.

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Photos by Juh Almeida, Nara Gentil, Marina Baggio and 4vero

Video by Iury Taillan