It had been 3 years since the traditional Bixiga Cake, distributed on São Paulo’s birthday, had been made. The covid-19 pandemic was the reason. And this Thursday (25th), the 470th anniversary of the capital of São Paulo, São Paulo residents were presented with the treat again.
Soon after a song of Happy Birthday to the rhythmic sound of the drums of the Vai-Vai Samba School, whose headquarters are in Bixiga, tons of cake disappeared into the hands and mouths of those present. Hundreds of slices were cut and handed out to those present.
“After the pandemic, this is the first time we are making São Paulo’s birthday cake. We return to the origins. 40 years ago, the community brought a cake to celebrate the party. And now this has happened again”, celebrated Carlos Eduardo Garcia, who organized the party in Bixiga.
By noon the community had already placed 348 decorated cakes on a table approximately 400 meters long on one of the neighborhood’s streets. A gift to the city. Next door, many people eagerly awaited sharing with napkins, plastic bags and even buckets in their hands. They were waiting for a piece of candy filled with colorful icing.
The size of the Bixiga Cake has already been recorded in the Guinness Book, the book of records, as the largest in the world. The confection has a tradition of increasing in size each year, totaling the number of years that São Paulo completes.
It was created in 1985 by Armando Puglisi, known as Armandinho do Bixiga. He died in 1994, but the tradition was maintained and organized by Walter Taverna, who also died last year.