The Carnival celebration is one of the parties most popular throughout Brazil. The festival takes place in various locations across the country. The attractions of the event tend to draw crowds with shows by artists of all generations. Many people end up wondering why Carnival doesn't have a fixed date. You know? Understand why it always changes.
Beginning of the 2023 Carnival
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Traditionally, the celebration is linked to Catholicism, so there really isn't a fixed date for the celebration. The date changes every year because the Catholic church considers Easter, the seasons and the lunar calendar. The feast date must be 41 days before the religious holiday. Carnival Tuesday must be 40 days before Palm Sunday and also depends on the equinox.
This year's Carnival will start on February 18, which will be on a Saturday.
In São Paulo, the parades take place on February 17th and 18th, Friday and Saturday.
In Rio de Janeiro, the Carnival parades will take place on February 19th and 20th, Sunday and Monday.
The relationship of the equinox with Carnival
Theoretically, day and night together make 24 hours, but that doesn't exactly mean that night and day have 12 hours each. What happens is that during spring and summer, the day is longer than the night. In autumn and winter, the night lasts longer than the day. So it's more than 12 hours.
The equinox is an event that happens twice a year and occurs when day and night are the same 12 hours in length. The first takes place more or less on March 20th and then between September 22nd and 23rd. The Catholic Church determined that Easter was always celebrated after the first full moon of the March equinox.
That is, on the first Sunday after the equinox.
origin of carnival
O “holiday“ in Brazil began in the colonial period.
The first celebration held at that time was Shrovetide, a game with Portuguese origin that was practiced by slaves. Then, around 1920, samba schools appeared in the hills of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
At the turn of the 19th century to the 20th century, in the Northeast, afoxés, frevos and maracatus emerged. These festivities aimed to remember African cultural traditions.
The word “Carnival” comes from the Latin carnis levale, which means "to remove the flesh". It is a term related to the fast of Lent, which occurs in a period of 40 days before Lent. Easter.
Carnival is a holiday?
According to the Ordinance of the First Secretary n° 29 of the Senate, the date is considered, in fact, an optional point. Traditionally, in addition to Saturday and Sunday, the day off also occurs on the Monday and Tuesday of Carnival.
