Gilberto Gil at Song Festivals

Around the time Gilberto Gil decided to dedicate himself entirely to his music, he separated from his first wife, Belina de Aguiar, and became involved with Nana Caymmi, the daughter of Dorival Caymmi. This famous singer-songwriter and guitarist was one of the main figureheads in Bahian music at that time and Gil admired him deeply.

The first Brazilian Popular Music Festival was held in São Paulo and broadcast by TV Excelsior in April 1965. By the following year, it had become a popular event, beamed into Brazilian households on their TV sets. 

In the midst of this ratings war, the producer Solano Ribeiro, who had been dismissed from Excelsior, took the Brazilian Popular Music Festival over to Record TV, which became the new broadcaster. 

Held in 1967 and broadcast by Record TV, the 3rd Brazilian Popular Music Festival brought Gilberto Gil and the group Os Mutantes together on stage. Their performance transformed the song Domingo no Parque into a classic and Gil won second prize in the contest. 

The various rounds of the festival took place at the Record Theater (Teatro Record) in São Paulo. In 1967, Gilberto Gil reached the final of Record TV's 3rd Brazilian Popular Music Festival, eventually taking second place for Domingo no Parque. The musicians wore stage outfits for each round.

With the help of conductor Rogério Duprat, Gilberto Gil used regional Bahian components to create something different for his performance at Record TV's festival. 

Domingo no Parque became an iconic song because two instruments that would become the mainstays of the Tropicália sound were heard together on a Brazilian stage for the first time ever: a traditional, single-string percussion instrument called a berimbau, and the electric guitar

After his performance, Gilberto Gil talked to journalists about Domingo no Parque. An excerpt from the lyrics about the love triangle says: "In the park was where he first caught sight of Juliana / There he saw Juliana on the wheel with João / A rose and an ice cream in her hand / Juliana, his dream, an illusion / Juliana and his friend João / The thorn on the rose wounded Zé / And the ice cream froze his heart."

The country had been under a dictatorship since 1964 and the regime had imposed censorship of songs and theatrical plays, among other things. Gil performed Questão de Ordem (Question of Order) on stage, accompanied by the Argentinian rock band Beat Boys.

In the same festival that Gil performed Questão de Ordem to booing from the audience, Caetano Veloso took the stage to sing É Proibido Proibir (Prohibiting Is Prohibited) with the band Os Mutantes. His performance was interrupted by even louder booing than his friend had received. Days later, Gil and Caetano were arrested for contempt of authority. 

Gil and Caetano left prison and were forced to go into exile. They spent three years living in London. When they came back, they returned to the stage and appeared at music festivals. One such festival was Phono 73, organized by the record label Phonogram and held at São Paulo's Anhembi convention center in May 1973.

Gilberto Gil also shared the stage at Phono 73 with fellow Tropicálista Jorge Ben, and Fagner, a native of Ceará State who had recently emerged onto the national scene.