Abstract
The community Parque Riachuelo I, located in Manaus (AM), has existed for about 40 years and was the result of disordered occupations. It is based in the urban zone, but it is not yet fully urbanized, presenting rural aspects (small river, virgin forest, mud streets). Hence, it suffers from lack of infrastructure, access to basic social services and leisure. Despite the difficulties, the residents organize festivities on commemorative dates. From a scientific initiation research, in this paper we aim to present which festivities have already taken place in the community and their meaning for the residents, to examine how they influenced the strengthening of community network. From the point of view of Community Social Psychology, we conducted a qualitative research with six semi-structured interviews with key participants and performed a content analysis. The results pointed to the remembrance of eight outstanding festivities, with meaning and importance of engagement and motivation on political struggles, union, strengthening of community ties and belonging sense. We have verified that the festivities have become an essential strategy tool for union and leisure, so that in each celebration more residents participate and dialogue on community issues, promoting community strengthening.
Community Psychology; Parties; Amazon; Rural Environments