Poconé - Mato Grosso

The name Poconé goes back to the original inhabitants of this region, the "Beripoconeses". Poconé is 100 km away from Cuiabá (capital of Mato Grosso). The route between Cuiabá and Poconé is asphalt and fully developed. Poconé was founded on 21 January 1781. Today, it has got about 30,000 inhabitants. It is a small and charming town with nice and very hospitable people. They love all kinds of celebrations and festivities. Some are lasting for several days. Here, you can taste local dishes which are sometimes very different from those of other parts of Brazil: Pacu, a freshwater fish of the Pantanal; Piranhas with mandioca and rice; fruit compote. Locally made fruit liqueur is another speciality. It is not only available in restaurants, but also in certain shops. The local people love music, especially their traditional folk songs.

Poconé is situated 100 km from Cuiabá and access is possible by a good paved highway. It is the portal to the Pantanal (the wetlands) in Mato Grosso, which can be reaches by two ways: the Transpantaneira road and via Porto Cercado. Both offer fishing opportunities on the Cuiabá, Piraim and Pixaim rivers.

The main economic activities in Poconé are gold ore extraction, cattle raising and touism.

The city was established on January 21, 1781. Today it has approximately 35,000 habitants. There are festivals practically all year round, some lasting up to 10 days, with many typical dishes based mostly on fish such as the pacu baked with a stuffing of kale farofa (made with manioc meal) stewed pintado and piranha. There are also desserts made of native fruits and the ost varied an exotic liqueurs.

There is plenty of regional music played on the viola de cocho and the mocho, instruments to which the dancing of the siriri an cururu takes place.

Most of these festival are religious like the "Saint Benedict's Festifal", where the cavalhada is presented. This is a sort of staging of medieval knights' battles. Another is the "Divine Holy Spirit Festival", where the Dance of the Masqueraders is presented. Poconé, a calm and friendly city, awaits you with open arms.