Tech and tents: Sao Paulo's Campus Party kicks off

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At this festival, the stars aren't rock bands, but startup heads. The 11th edition of Brazil's Campus Party is kicking off in Sao Paulo.

The sprawling event claims to be the world's largest technology festival of innovation, creativity, science, entrepreneurship and digital universe.

The Campus Party Tech fair attracts people from all over Brazil, most of them young students, entrepreneurs, developers, hackers and people looking for opportunities to present their own business.

The exhibits in Campus Party / VCG photo

It's a meeting point for the country's digital community. The fair lets visitors interact, share knowledge and explore the latest tech trends.

With a tech event this big, you don't want to waste time traveling to and from the exhibit hall.

Instead, thousands sleep over, moving into a tent for the six-day event.

The exhibits in Campus Party / VCG photo‍

"Campus Party is everything," says campus party participant Gabriel Mendonca.

"We spend seven days without sleeping to avoid missing any opportunity, because it is fantastic. We have the opportunity to meet Steve Wozniak (Apple co-founder) and Caito Maia (founder of Chilli Beans), great names for technology and business. We have the chance to do everything here, to grow here. So, I recommend to those who doesn't know Campus Party, to come here, especially those who like technology."

A top attraction is a drone racing competition that's set to run throughout the event.

The event's general director Tonico Novaes says the tech-savvy participants here are the "future" of Brazil.

"These young people that are coming here, they are the new generation and they are disruptive," he says.

"They are ready to share the economy, so doesn't matter what these guys are doing here, these guys are the future of the nation, these guys are my hero, these guys will be the new CEOs, and CTOs, and CMOs of big multinational companies."

A participant was playing e-games. /VCG photo

In one corner of the event, technicians are showcasing their supercharged, modified computers, called "casemods."

Technician Douglas Alves says Campus Party is a great opportunity to show off his latest work and meet new clients.

"It's worth it because I take casemod seriously, it's not only a hobby. And taking it seriously, it becomes work," he says.

"It's with this exposure at Campus Party that I manage to get new jobs and new partners. I do these casemods during the entire year, this one took me two months to finish, but there was one that it took me eight months to finish and I brought here to Campus Party as well."

Campus Party Brazil 2018 runs from January 30 to February 4 in Sao Paulo.

17637km

Source(s): AP