On March 29, 2024, about 2,000 people gathered in Belo Horizonte’s Lagoinha district for a Good Friday fish distribution aimed at low-income households. The line began on Thursday morning and eventually doubled back across two city blocks. Organizers issued about 2,000 numbered tickets. The first person in line, a 79-year-old woman, had arrived at 9 a.m. on Thursday. She said the fish would provide a special meal for eight people, or fifteen if all the grandchildren were counted.
The charitable distribution had been held for 31 years and was interrupted only during the pandemic. In 2024, supply conditions forced organizers to use chicha, a fish related to mackerel. What makes this queue distinctive is the conversion of a religious meal into an arrival order beginning the previous day. Even a gift requires an allocation system when demand is large. The ticket was distributed before the fish and became the practical guarantee of a family’s holiday table. For the first arrivals, Good Friday lunch began not in the kitchen but with a night spent holding a place on the pavement.