Before the NFL’s international matchup between the Ravens and the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday—the first regular season game to ever be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil—a reporter asked Lamar Jackson whether the Cowboys, America’s Team, would have the crowd in Rio.

Jackson smiled and said, “Yes, but this is America. That’s Brazil. So we’ll see.”

Brazil answered him in purple. The Ravens Flock—our grassroots hometown crew that built the fanbase long before the league ever did—showed up in force, including fans who flew in from all over the world.

I was inside the Maracanã with a camera, up in the stands with the fans, shooting the crowd of more than 72,000 as much as the game itself. For those three hours, everyone was on the edge of their seat. In true Rio spirit, the energy felt more like that of a Brazilian football match than an NFL game—the kind the Maracanã bowl was built for, with nonstop chanting, booing, and going at each other across the aisles.

Every Derrick Henry carry, the place erupted. Every time Jackson pulled it down and ran, it came apart. Baltimore would score, and you could feel the roar coming off the concrete in your chest. Then Dallas would answer, and the whole thing flipped again.

It continued until the last second. Dallas tied it 31-31 with seven seconds on the clock. Then, second-year Ravens kicker Tyler Loop lined up from 56 yards to secure the win. When it went through, the stadium detonated. Helmets off, the guys stormed the field to hype Loop up.

And then, the off-the-field moment I keep coming back to: Jackson ran into the tunnel and hugged the Maracanã’s own staff. The stadium workers standing back there doing their jobs—every single one of them. Then, he ran back out to the crowd.

As you can see in my shots below, Ravens Brazil did not just show up for The Flock. They were The Flock.

Among the countless reasons why we love living in Baltimore is its proximity to the Maryland Renaissance Festival (running weekends through Oct. 25), just about 25 miles south in Crownsville—which is continuously lauded as one of the best in the United States. When the summer winds down, hundreds of thousands of visitors stitch up their corsets, dust off their flower crowns, and make their way to Revel Grove—the 27-acre village of King Henry VIII and his royal company.

Stepping through the front gates sends attendees on a fully immersive trip back to the 16th century, with period-specific shops, artisans, performers (everything from song and dance to juggling and comedy), and sustenance (including the famous turkey legs, eats on a stick, and steins of mead) around every corner.

And fair-goers from near and far seem to be craving that kind of rare escape. As the festival celebrates its 50th anniversary, it’s more popular than ever—with tickets selling out as fast as the horses that rush around the jousting arena, which prompted a wait-list policy for the first time this year.  

Contributing photographer and Maryland Renaissance Festival regular Lauren Castellana—pictured below, donning a hand-made jester costume that she worked on all year in anticipation of the fest—strolled around the village to capture the fun, food, performance, and pure joy of opening weekend.

This past weekend, fans of Baltimore’s boisterous underground music scene bounced back and forth between neighboring North Howard Street venues Le Mondo and Current Space for Subscape—the city’s ever-evolving DIY music fest that features a lineup of more than 60 area punk, alternative, and metal bands across three days.

Though the shows are all free to attend, in keeping with the event’s DIY spirit, organizers turned to crowdfunding (with rewards like VIP perks and locally designed merch) to make sure all talent got paid and production costs were covered. They raised more than double their goal.

“Our city has one of the best music scenes on the planet, and it deserves to be championed by everyone who lives here,” organizers Michael Habif of Baltimore Showplace, Andy Phillips of Wax Atlas, and Kim Te of the band Natural Velvet, wrote on their Indiegogo page. “In a time when it’s harder than ever to find community in the non-virtual world, the DIY music scene is a refuge for countless people to connect and support each other. ”

Amen to that. Browse the gallery below to get a sense of the energy of the third-annual Subscape weekend, captured through the lens of contributing photographer Josh Sisk.

Thousands lined the paths of Druid Hill Park this past weekend to celebrate Baltimore’s many Caribbean communities at the Baltimore Washington One Carnival, which has been a local staple for more than four decades.

Now a three-day event, the fest features authentic food, live music, and non-stop activities for all ages. But its crown jewel continues to be its parade—a three-mile, heart-thumping procession of dancers, musicians, stilt walkers, and revelers (often covered with mud, clay, or paint to align with the ancient mud mas tradition) showing off stunning cultural attire.

Sporadic downpours and excessive heat didn’t even come close to putting a damper on the party this year. Here’s a look at all of the color, costumes, and culture through the lens of contributing photojournalist J.M. Giordano’s 20-year-old Nikon D200.