Carnaval in Rio

Carnaval was unbelievable!! It officially began the Saturday before Lent and lasted till Fat Tuesday. Although many Catholic countries celebrate Carnaval, Rio is considered the Carnaval capital of the world because it is the biggest. Every year more than 500,000 visitors come to Rio for Carnaval. For Brazilians, Carnaval sums up their culture. People sing, dance, party, and have tons of fun with their families.

Here is a brief history of Carnaval from a website I found:

The roots go back to the ancient Romans and Greeks who celebrated Spring with parties and dancing in the streets. This carried over to modern Europe and then to the New World. When the Portuguese colonized Brazil, they brought the tradition with them where it mixed with Amerindian and African traditions. Aristocrats dressed as commoners, poor people as royalty, and men dressed as women to symbolize that social roles and class differences were to be forgotten during Carnaval. Slaves were even able to be free for the three days!

Carnaval Today:

Recently, the biggest parade, the Samba Parade, was moved from the downtown streets to the purpose-built Sambódromo. Tickets to the Samba school competition run from $30 for crappy “you can’t see a damn thing” seats to $1300 for the best seats in the house. Each samba school picks a theme, writes music and lyrics, makes costumes and floats, and practices all year for the Parade.

Since most people can’t afford to attend the Samba Parade, street blocos are where the real party is held. Over 300 groups (usually consisting of a percussion group, singers, dancers, and a tall truck with speakers) perform in the streets all over the city. Many of the roads are closed and the groups are followed by crowds of enthusiastic revelers dressed in costumes, bathing suits, plain clothes, and even many in drag. Everyone from children to grandmothers can be seen breakin’ it down side-by-side in ridiculous costumes throughout Carnaval.

Almost all the Carnaval music is samba, although there are a handful of different samba styles. The fast-paced dance step is something that takes practice, but very fun once you get the hang of it!

My experience:

Carnaval was everything I expected and more. Most business were closed and people young and old were dressed in ridiculous costumes, crowns, hats, or masks. One day I literally saw a flock of Avatars. Their entire bodies were blue and their faces were painted to look just like the movie characters! No need to look where the blocos were each day, just wander the streets and I found them everywhere. Most of them began in the late afternoon but I went to one that began at 8:30 am. So fun! Blocos range in size and I went to small neighborhood ones and huge blocos on the beach with over 100,000 people! I think I prefer the smaller ones. Dancing through the streets in 100 + degree heat can get tiring… especially when you do it all day for 4+ days straight, but Brazilians don’t seem to get tired of it and I tried to take their lead ☺ The lucky people whose apartments face the streets where the blocos travel, hung out their windows and threw confetti on the people below. The mood of the crowd was so enthusiastic and happy and everyone had a great time. ☺