Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro!

Although Carnival (Carnaval in Portuguese) is celebrated in towns and villages throughout Brazil and other Catholic countries, Rio de Janeiro has long been regarded as the Carnival Capital of the World.

The Rio Carnaval is not only the biggest Carnival, it has also a benchmark against which every other carnival is compared and one of the most interesting artistic events on the Globe.

Almost everyone has heard of the Rio Carnaval. Foreign visitors to it alone number around 500,000 every year. My friend Sherry sent me a few of these pictures to feature. Merci' Mademoiselle Sherry!

Carnival is all over the place, in the streets and squares, bars, clubs and all other venues, taking over the whole city of Rio and culminating in the Rio Carnival Parade also known as the Samba Parade...shown here....

Rio Carnival is a wild 4 day celebration, 40 days before Easter. It officially starts on Saturday and finishes on Fat Tuesday (today!) with the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday after which one is supposed to abstain from all bodily pleasures. Carnival with all its excesses, celebrated as a profane event, can be considered an act of farewell to the pleasures of the flesh. It usually happens in February, the hottest month in the Southern Hemisphere, when the Rio summer is at its peak.

There are carnival celebrations in virtually every corner of Brazil, the best-known ones taking place in Recife together with the neighboring Olinda (in the North of Brazil) and Salvador. But the biggest and most famous carnival is undoubtedly the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro.

Almost all of the music played during Rio Carnival is samba. It is a uniquely Brazilian music originating from Rio, a dance form that was invented by the poor Afro-Brazilians.
The word samba comes from the Angolan world semba referring to a type of ritual music. The word had a variety of meanings to the African slaves brought to Brazil during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. It meant to pray or invoke the spirits of the ancestors and the gods of the African Pantheon. As a noun, it could mean a complaint, a cry, or something like "the blues".

  ( Merci': All Images Hola.com)

One of the most involved groups in Rio Carnival are the poorest neighborhoods, the so called favelas. Favelas are shantytowns or slums, in which houses are made of cardboard or other scraps, and they are often without water, electricity and sewage system.

  (Merci': AFP Relax News)
 However, no matter how bad a situation the favelas´ residents are in, they join in the festivities and they actually "make" the Carnival in Rio. Carnival really means a lot to them, because for once during the year they get to go out and have as much fun as they can. And you will see, they can indeed.

Residents of the favelas are often members of a local samba school and are deeply involved with the performance and costumes of their groups. Carnival and samba is their passion alongside football.
Gays and drag queens come and help out and become very involved in Rio Carnival.

(Merci': Associated Press)

For everyone, this is a time to come together as a whole and have fun together. Brazil once becomes the most tolerant society. Gender and social boundaries vanish as many paraders cross-dress.

They may try to organize it, glamorize it, televise it, even industrialize it but Rio Carnival is something that comes deep from the fun-loving soul of the Rio people. It does not depend on any authority or sponsor to happen. Carnival in the streets is a living proof of this passion. It's free, and everybody's welcome to participate.

Rio Carnival Calendar

YEAR	STARTING SATURDAY
	In case you want to plan a trip.....
2012	February 18th
2013	February 9th
2014	March 1st

(Merci': Rio-Carnavale.net)