If the Olympic Torch Relay has given you a taste for the culture of northeastern Brazil but you won't have time to leave Rio de Janeiro during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, you don't have to miss out. The Olympic city is home to a huge community of people with roots in the region who have brought their traditions with them and are proud to share them with foreign visitors.

The epicentre of northeastern culture in Rio is the Feira de São Cristóvão, the northeastern fair. This giant covered fair is given over to round-the-clock merrymaking from Friday to Sunday every week of the year; tourists who make it here will be able to enjoy live forró bands and dancing, indulge in regional food and drink, and buy some of the typical arts and crafts of the North East. The site is conveniently located in the centre of Rio; it's the large, unusual looking venue on the right on the way into town from the international airport.

On average around 300,000 people visit the northeastern fair every month, made up of homesick emigrants from the region, Rio locals and tourists from across Brazil and beyond. Helismar Pereira, who came to Rio from the northeastern state of Ceará 25 years ago and now works in the fair, assures us that "here we have the best food, the best drink and the highest level of security for visitors."

The fair is just a couple of miles from the legendary Maracanã stadium, which will be the venue for decisive football matches during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. For international football supporters, the fair will be the ideal place to celebrate a victory, drown sorrows or even commemorate that elusive Olympic medal. Should Brazil win Olympic gold for the first time, expect the roof to come off...

The northeastern fair in central Rio is a fun excursion for all the family (Photo: Rio 2016/Saulo Pereira Guimarães)

Not convinced yet? This Friday (3 June) one of Rio's largest festas juninas kicks off at the fair and will run until the end of August. Visitors to the Olympic Games should try not to miss this opportunity to take part in one of Brazil's most traditional and hospitable festivals.

Folk literature and cuisine

A sculpture of northeastern music legend Luiz Gonzaga at the northeastern fare in Rio (Photo: Rio 2016/Saulo Pereira Guimarães)

There's more to the northeast than forró music and dancing. The region has developed other unique cultural traditions over the years, from the kitchen to the library. These facets of northeastern culture are all within easy reach of visitors to Rio.

For 28 years, poet Gonçalo Ferreira da Silva has been in charge of the Academia Brasileira de Literatura de Cordel (ABLC), an institution devoted to the fascinating phenomenon of 'cordel' literature. Cordel literally means string, referring to the string on which these cheap chapbooks and pamphlets hang at stalls and stores across the region. The booklets retell classic stories and contemporary events in popular rhyme; often comic, satirical, bawdy and bloodthirsty, cordel is an enduring feature of northeastern culture. 

Just four miles from the sophisticated sailing venue of the Marina da Glória, the ABLC is the showcase for this very different face of Brazil, with about 13,000 cordel booklets for visitors to browse through. "It's one of the largest collections of the genre in the world," the 79-year-old da Silva says. Curious visitors can also buy cordels at the northeastern fair.

Cordel pamphlets make a great souvenir and can be bought for a few reais at the northeastern fair (Photo: Rio2016/ Saulo Pereira Guimarães)

For visitors to Rio who will be staying in the glamorous southern zone (Zona Sul), northeastern culture will never be far away. Just across the road from Lagoa Stadium, on whose waters athletes will be competing in rowing and canoeing events, lies the sprawling favela of Rocinha.

This huge community of over 100,000 people was settled mainly by immigrants from northeastern Brazil. Today, it is home to many restaurants that offer typical northeastern fare. The arrival of a community police force has improved security and Rocinha is now on the itinerary of many tourists in Rio; an organised tour may be the best way to get a taste of life here.

"We have a lot of good stuff to share with tourists and athletes," says Antônio Lima, who came to Rio from the northeastern state of Ceará more than 20 years ago and is now a proud resident of Rocinha.

An aerial view of the northeastern fair in central Rio (Photo: Riotur)