O Carnival it is a period of popular festivals held during the day and at night. The celebrations take place every year, in February or March, starting on Saturday and extending until Carnival Tuesday.
Carnival celebrations end on Ash Wednesday, the day that marks the beginning of Lent — a 40-day period that runs until Good Friday, two days before Easter.
Carnival parties are adapted according to history and the culture local. In general, people dance, eat and drink happily at parties, masked balls, costume balls, block parades, samba schools, electric trios and even on the street itself.
history of carnival
Carnival began to be celebrated many years ago, especially in southern Europe, among members of the Catholicism, as a pagan festival, that is, it contradicted the precepts propagated by the religion.
Studies indicate that the word Carnival comes from the Latin terms takeaway meator "to remove the meat". This meaning is related to the period of Lent, in which Catholics give up some food and drink and part of pleasures considered mundane.
Thus, according to surveys, the day before Ash Wednesday, some Catholics held parties and took advantage of to eat a lot of meat, as they knew that, from the next day, they would not be able to taste it until the end of the Lent.
According to the history of Carnival, this celebration may be related to some festivities of Greco-Roman origin dedicated to the god of wine, Spleen (or Dionysius, for the greeks). At events, people used to get drunk, eat a lot, and indulge in the pleasures of the flesh.
Read more: The history of Carnival and its origins
In the following years, celebrations and parties continued to take place with the same proposal of exaggerations. So, from the eighth century, when Lent was created, the Catholic church it decided that the Carnival parties would be held before that date, precisely so that, in those days before it, excesses could be committed.
During the historical period known as Rebirth, Carnival became even more popular, especially in Italy. The city of Venice even became very famous for its traditional masked balls.
There are also reports that, upon colonizing the American continent, Europeans spread the Carnival festivities there. Studies also show that, in the 11th century, carnival parties were held in which men dressed as women.
Carnival in Salvador attracts around two million people.**
Carnival holiday
The date of Carnival is defined through the criterion that is used to determine the date of Easter. This criterion was created in the year 325 d. Ç. during the Council of Nicaea. Catholic Church authorities stipulated that the date of Easter would be set on the first Sunday that falls after the first full moon after the spring/autumn equinox. Then, seven Sundays are counted retroactively to reach Carnival Sunday.
This means that, unlike other holidays, Carnival does not have a fixed day, on the contrary, it changes according to the year.
Check out the dates for upcoming Carnival Tuesdays:
2020: February 25th
2021: February 16th
2022: March 1st
2023: February 21st
2024: February 13th
2025: March 4th
Carnival in Brazil
O Carnival in Brazil it is the biggest popular festival in the country, being part of its national identity. It is also the most famous Carnival in the world, attracting thousands of tourists from various countries.
Samba schools, clubs, event venues, hotels, among other places, usually work for most of the year to organize Carnival parties. This means that celebrations have become sources of business and profit.
Rooted in Brazilian culture, Carnival moves people, who prepare themselves physically to withstand the marathon of parties. Part of the population invests in clothes, accessories, costumes, etc. There are some people who even present themselves without any clothes, just wearing smocks and makeup with lots of glitter.
See too: How Carnival is celebrated in other countries
Rio de Janeiro
Studies indicate that the Carnival arrived at Brazil, in the Colonial Period, by Rio de Janeiro, with the Shrovetide — a feast of Portuguese origin in which slaves went out into the streets with painted faces, throwing flour and scented water balls at people.
In the mid-19th century, in the Rio de Janeiro, then capital of Brazil, while Shrovetide was repressed in the streets, balls were held for the elite. Afterwards, the first society was created, the Congress of Carnival Sumities, which began to parade in the city's streets.
The street carnival demonstrations emerged in the nineteenth century, seeking to adapt to attempts at police discipline. For this, cordões and ranchos were created - processions practiced mainly by people of rural origin.
At the end of the 19th century, the Carnival marches, whose best known author was Chiquinha Gonzaga, with his song “O abre-alas”.
Among the popular classes, the Samba schools emerged in the 1920s in Rio de Janeiro. The first dispute between schools took place in 1929.
From the 1960s onwards, the carioca Carnival with samba became an important commercial activity. The city of Rio de Janeiro started to place bleachers on Avenida Rio Branco and charge a ticket to see the parade.
In 1984, Oscar Niemeyer, the greatest Brazilian architect, designed the Passarela do Samba or the Sambódromo.
North East
Carnival in the Northeast Region of Brazil emerged in Bahia, at the end of the 19th century, with the aim of remembering African cultural traditions. In the same period, in Pernambuco, a frevo dance it was popularized in the capital Recife, and the maracatu in Olinda.
The so-called “electric trio” began to parade in the streets of Salvador in 1950. It was a truck in whose back there were musical instruments and loudspeakers.
Olinda's giant dolls are a registered trademark of the Pernambuco Carnival.***
Where to celebrate Carnival
Brazilians and tourists who want to enjoy the most famous parties of the Brazilian Carnival cannot miss these places:
Rio de Janeiro: Carnival in Brazil was born and became famous in Rio de Janeiro, so much so that, in addition to knowing postcards like the Christ the Redeemer, many visitors also like to travel to the city at this time of year to witness one of the greatest shows on Earth, the Rio de Janeiro samba schools.
In the city, there are also carnival balls, such as the one held at the traditional Hotel Copacabana Palace, which usually has famous personalities among its guests. On occasion, people go in costumes.
Also access: Are you going to skip Carnival? See some care you need to take with your body
Sao Paulo: the biggest economic city in Brazil also has samba schools. In addition, there are street carnivals, especially in more bohemian neighborhoods such as Vila Madalena.
savior: for those who don't mind spending hours on end dancing in the middle of the street to the sound led by artists in electric trios, the city is the right destination. It is estimated that around two million people participate in the Salvador Carnival.
Pernambuco: Recife and Olinda are also traditional carnival cities. Among its highlights are the giant puppets of various artists, such as Elvis Presley, David Bowie, Chacrinha, Rita Lee and even the Chaves gang.
Minas Gerais:The historic and university cities of Minas Gerais, such as Ouro Preto, São João del-Rei and Diamantina, gather thousands of young revelers, every year, with the famous street carnivals.
_______________________
*Image credits: T photography / Shutterstock.com
** Image credits: Vinicius Tupinamba / Shutterstock.com
*** Image credits: Marcio Jose Bastos Silva / Shutterstock.com
By Silvia Tancredi
Journalist
