CARNIVAL

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 Bahia Style 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.

Goodbye and Thanks for Listening Or As They Say in Brazil Adeus, Obrigado Pela Vossa Atencao