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As the famous Bahian composer Dorival Caymmi once said, every 2nd of February is a day to celebrate the sea. Yemanjá, the Goddess of the Sea, is honored all along the coast of Bahia, everywhere there is a fishing cooperative or a Candomblé house of worship. But the largest festival in her honor takes place in Salvador on the beach in Rio Vermelho, where thousands of people come to leave their offerings at the Yemanjá House. Perfume, bars of soap, mirrors, flowers and even jewelry are deposited in hundreds of baskets which are taken at the end of the afternoon far out to sea in a maritime procession followed by hundreds of boats. A Candomblé deity associated with Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, Yemanjá is the orixá of salt water. One of the most prestigious female entities in the Candomblé pantheon, she is said to be quite vain and therefore rather fond of all manner of products to make herself more beautiful. Alongside the religious activities, an open-air festival with the ever-present barracas lasts well into the night in the neighborhood of Rio Vermelho.
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