there are three main fairs where one can find the best and widest selection of arts and crafts in metropolitan rio de janeiro - some fairs only take place at night, allowing a full day at the beach or exploring rio de janeiro's nature during the day, and leaving the shopping for the afterhours.

the most famous of the three fairs is feira hippie de ipanema, which is a large street fair not to be missed - it occurs on sundays in praça general osório, which is the square right outside of the general osório metrô station in ipanema - this particular festival has taken place every single sunday for the last five decades, from 7am-7pm, rain or shine.

during the late sixties, ipanema was at the heart of the hippie movement in rio de janeiro - the musical genre of tropicália was also born during this era and included much social commentary.