What Happens at Carnival
In Brazil many people dance and
party and attend parades before Lent.
They do this in preparation for Lent.
At the parade samba schools dance
in the parade there are lots of floats
and people dress up.
Food is a big part of Carnival also.
They also drink many traditional
Brazilian beverages.
Lots of famous Brazilian celebrities
take part.
It's basically one big PARTY!
About Carnival
Carnival is a great Brazilian festival held 46 days before Easter.
In Carnival there are many massive parades and parties held and
it is called the greatest show on Earth.
It is held in large cities in Brazil such as Rio de Janeiro and
Sao Paulo.
Last year the Rio de Janeiro Carnival alone attracted almost
5 million people and 500,000 of those were foreigners.
The official parades are meant
to be watched by the public
but minor parades called
blocos allow anyone to take
part.
The carnival party in Rio
keeps getting bigger. Over the
last 15 years the number of
people going has increased
each year.
Numerous floats, revellers
and dancers from many
Samba schools take part in
the parade.
More than 200 Samba
schools compete year.
How Carnival Started
In the early 18th century Portuguese
settlers brought over their traditional
celebration of carnival.
It is related to the ancient Christian
festival celebrating the resurrection
of Christ.
It used to last for 46 days at Lent but
now lasts for days before Easter.
History
The Rio de Janeiro Carnival festivals
date back to 1723.
It is believed to have been brought over by the
Portuguese and other European settlers.
It also has a strong African influence which
was brought about through the African Slaves
imported in the 17th and 18th century.
The festival has roots in the pagan festival of
Saturnalia, which was a farewell to bad things in
start of a new season i.e. Lent.
In the late 19th century the cordoes (Portuguese for cords) were
introduced to Rio de Janeiro. These were pageant groups
that started parading
through the streets at
carnival. Today they
are known as blocos .
The first official samba
school competition
took place in 1929.
It was won
by “Oswaldo Cruz”.
It has the most
Carnival tittles with 21.
The Carnivals reached their peaks in the 1930s with the start of
samba schools and have only grown bigger since.
Styles of Carnival
As part of carnival tradition each part of Brazil has its
own style.
Bahia Style
In the Bahia region it is very music based with types of music such
as funk-samba and axe.
It also has a lot of Afro-American influence in its music and
partying.
Sao Paulo Style
The Carnival in Sao Paulo takes place on the
Friday and Saturday during the week of
Carnival.
Lots of samba schools compete in the
parade while dancing on spectacular floats.
Each school must pick its own theme, which
they show through their costumes, dancing
and floats.
Apart from the parades there are many
parties, but there are not many blocos.
Rio de Janeiro Style
Carnival originally came from Europe but evolved into
what we now know as Rio Carnival.
There are lots of samba schools, blocos and floats in
Rio Carnival.
Pernambaco Style
Pernambaco style contains frevo and the maracata
rhythms.
GEOGRAPHY
The biggest Carnival parties
usually happens in the southeast
of the country.
The biggest is Galo da
Madruguda it happens in the
state of Pernumbuco .
Other countries that have
Carnival include Spain, Austria,
Germany, parts of England,
Switzerland and many Latin
American countries.
Food
At Carnival there are plenty of different food stalls.
They like to eat seafood, duck, vatapa, tacacu and
fejoltda.
Fejoltda is a rich stew with chops, strips of dried beef
and black beans usually served with rice.
