Carnival brings four days of revelry to Brazil

Street celebrations attract immense crowds to party to the sound of sound trucks, street bands and parades

Photos: Arquivo/Riotur

Carnival brings four days of revelry to Brazil Carnival is one of the most popular Brazilian festivities, dragging massive crowds to the streets every year to follow the street blocks and trios elétricos (large trucks equipped with massive sound systems that drive slowly through towns).

And it's not just Brazilians who enjoy the celebration, which runs from Carnival Saturday to Ash Wednesday. Foreign audiences are also very keen to join in on the revelry. According to estimates by the Ministry of Tourism, about 400,000 tourists arrived in Brazil in 2018 to enjoy Carnival, most to visit several cities in the states of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Pernambuco, Bahia and Minas Gerais that are known for the quality of the festivities. Projections indicate that this year's Carnival injected R$ 6 billion into the country's economy.

History

The origins of Carnival date back to rituals from classical antiquity, when Greek and Roman societies celebrated natural phenomena. Over time, these practices were gradually incorporated into European pagan customs, which concentrated on ballroom dancing and street parties. From this fusion came the Carnival Associations.

When the Portuguese arrived in Brazil in the 19^th century, the brought with them the "entrudo", an event that brought the nobility and the people of less affluent classes together to participate in games and parties in the street. Carnival also has influences from masked balls held in Italy.

In 1820, the festivities started to become more popular in the country, and more than a century later, in 1928, the first samba school was founded in Rio de Janeiro.

Carnival brings four days of revelry to Brazil Today, Carnival usually takes place over a four-day period between the months of February and March. The date is not fixed, and varies according to the Catholic calendar. The end of the Carnival marks the beginning of Lent, a 40-day period that marks the fast of the faithful until Easter. This gives rise to the origin of the name of the party, which refers to the deprivation of pleasures.

Rhythms

Carnival is celebrated differently in every Brazilian region. In the Northeast, frevo leads the festivities, while in the Southeast samba predominates.

Attractions

1 Check out the main landmarks and names of Brazilian architecture

Olinda

In Olinda (Pernambuco), giant dolls with caricature of illustrious figures, both Brazilian and foreign, animate the crowds who party through the streets and slopes of the Upper City, where there are several historical monuments. The carnival associations who organise the festivities (called blocos, or "blocks") are a European inheritance, remnants of entities that accompanied religious processions in the old continent. The Galo da Madrugada is one of the most famous blocks in Recife, entertaining hundreds of thousands of revellers every year to the sound of frevo.

Rio de Janeiro

In Rio the samba school parades at the Sambadrome, designed by Oscar Niemeyer, delight audiences worldwide with enormous floats, specially composed songs called samba enredos and sumptuous costumes.

3 Check out the main landmarks and names of Brazilian architecture

Salvador

In the capital of Bahia, which was also the first capital of Brazil, the "electric trios" — enormous trucks with massive sound systems — led by axé music artists attract millions to enjoy the festivities, both on VIP boxes and out on the streets, since the tradition started in the 1950s.

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Filed under: Carnival, Street celebrations, Brazilian festivities, Trios elétricos