Popular festivals in southern Minas Gerais and the culture of the sacred in the municipalities of Machado and Silvianopolis

This article aims to present an analysis of the diversity of religious festivities in two municipalities in southern Minas Gerais, from the interpretation of the sacred space and its interactions with the profane. Furthermore, we seek to focus on the sociocultural disparities existing in the cities of Machado and Silvianopolis. In these cities two important festivities for the cultural scene in the South of Minas Gerais were established. Each city has its specificity in the region, Machado contributes to the cultural development investing in its suits and expanding its cultural influence to the surrounding cities. Silvianopolis, in the consolidation of its sacred spaces and symbolic itineraries, brings together a mix of manifestations in its festive revival, not failing to contribute to other festivities, but has as specificity the importation of ternos from other municipalities. To build this work, there was first of all a desk research, both bibliographic and documental. In a second moment, fieldwork was done with observations and interviews in the search of understanding the cultural diversity linked to the sacred space in the festivities of the studied municipalities and the contributions of these parties to the cultural scene of the South of Minas Gerais.