From North to South, from East to West, altinha is everywhere

The ball never stops

Tournaments, meetups, and open classes kept the altinha scene moving in Brazil and Europe last weekend.

Not even the Brazilian winter or the extreme temperatures in the northern hemisphere, for opposite reasons, were enough to slow down the number of people and events connected to our sport.

Over the weekend of the 25th and 26th, the community stayed engaged in many different ways, occupying public spaces beyond the beaches and showing that there is a growing movement outside the major capitals and beyond the sand.

Open class and altinha meetup in Rio

In Rio de Janeiro, the collective Empoderalta got things started at Flamengo Beach with a class, breakfast, and a roda de conversas at 8 a.m. on Saturday. It was an event exclusively for women, where many were able to try altinha for the first time, while also being introduced to a community where women are protagonists and a fundamental part of building the sport.

"The event was a success! Our first open class in a different space," Lorena Andrade shared with Altinha.com. For more information on where and how to join Empoderalta, visit their link and Instagram page.

On Sunday the 26th, the altinha zona sul meetup also brought together dozens of people, and took place at Lagoa, in Marcos Tamoyo Square.

In Santa Catarina, there was also a ball in the air

In the southern region, two events happened simultaneously within a radius of less than 100 km, with players from outside the state in attendance.

Altaday was the altinha street meetup held at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), in Florianópolis. Last Saturday marked the first edition of the project, which aims to continue for a long time and through many more editions.

"As in every edition, we started by welcoming the crowd, chatting, integrating everyone as they arrived, and creating that light atmosphere that is part of the essence of the event. And one of the coolest things is noticing that new people always show up. Every edition brings different stories and shows how altinha keeps bringing people together," said Raone Augusto, organizer of the event and teacher at RNFlow.

The event also featured a tricks challenge for those at a more advanced level and other activities for all participants in partnership with Sano Alfajores. The images were captured by @phfotoz.

About 86 km from there, an altinha and footvolley championship organized by Alta Rosa Norte was also taking place. The crew from the São Paulo coast headed down to the sands of Garopaba, a traditional surf and altinha spot. Videos from the event can be found on their Instagram.

The last stop in Brazil, Itacaré, Bahia

On the southern coast of Bahia, the event that moved a large part of Brazil's altinha community took place. The place itself is paradise. The magic and good energy of Itacaré welcomed no fewer than 30 teams with open arms, divided into 16 in Category A and 14 in Category B.

According to the organizers, teams from 8 different states took part in the competition. The 2nd Copa Alta Vibes confirmed the success of the first edition, establishing itself on the official calendar of the sport's competitive scene in Brazil.

Speaking to Altinha.com, Gabriel Borges, partner at Alta Vibes, celebrated the energy of July 25 and 26, 2026. "Man, the event was awesome, everyone loved it! Local native people, people who work on the beach, people who came from outside, the shop owners..."

The official images from the event were produced by Maica Filmes.

The involvement of the altinha community in harmony with the places it passes through is contagious. Itacaré already had its special place because of its people, but it chose to embrace altinha and call it its own. Until next year, with even bigger expectations!

The ball crossed the ocean

Anyone who thought altinha was limited to Brazil was mistaken. Also on Saturday the 25th, the Brasil Al Carrer event took place in Barcelona, a Brazilian culture event organized by Cafofo Barcelona. At the opening, Alta BCN represented the community for the second year in a row in one of Europe's most important cities.

"Compared to the last event, I believe we had a really good number of new participants. We managed to bring our people in to help the curious ones in the mission of keeping the ball up! I think everyone who played had fun. Seeing new people in the city, foreigners, tourists, and residents, getting interested in altinha and getting to know a little about the sport was a huge pleasure for us.

This year, I think the event had an extra layer of affection, because people had already lived 2025 intensely. They knew it would be a memorable day and, for us, it was no different. We managed to make history in Barcelona once again, occupying the Arc de Triomf with a genuinely Brazilian sport and drawing crowds to enjoy and get to know a little of our culture."

The event also featured the crew from Alta Lagos and Alta Lisbon, who came from Portugal to share this moment of expansion on the old continent.

In France, the girls from Altinha Paris filled the parks once again. On Saturday, it was time to bring together a huge community at Parc de la Villette.

These were the impressions from the events during a very busy weekend, from the altinha community for the altinha community, in different places around the world. This is the beginning of many more weekends to come, with lots of coverage of what is happening in the world of altinha to inform the community and help it grow.