The Carnival is the largest popular festival in Brazil, the carnival of Rio de Janeiro the most rich and famous, attracting thousands of national and foreign tourists.
Every year during the Carnival, the city of Rio de Janeiro breathe for five days an enviable air of joy. Cariocas forget the problems and obligations and yield to the gigantic spectacle of dance and magic. The peak of the festival is the parade of the panel in the Marquis of Sapucaí where various Samba schools compete among themselves the title of Carnival champion. Samba, vivid colors, beautiful costumes and beautiful women are the main ingredients of this great dispute.
The date of the Carnival varies from year to year depending on Easter. Usually the revelry occurs between the end of February and first days of March. The official start of carnival is always on a Saturday and end at noon on the Wednesday following, called “Ash Wednesday”. However many people have already started the celebrations on Friday. It is much in Brazil that year formally begins only after the Carnival.
During most of the nineties, was reduced to the carnival parades of samba schools and the great dances in clubs closed. The famous and traditional “street carnival”, where people spontaneously playing without paying entry, dropped out. In recent years, however, this form of celebration is being recovered.
The Carnival has several possible sources that lead to thousands of years before Christ. The word carnival may have its origin in the Latin expression “carrum Novalis’ used by the Romans to open their celebrations. Or perhaps the word “carnelevale” which means “farewell to meat” in Milanese dialect, a reference to the beginning of Christian Lent.
Unlike the carnival that existed elsewhere in Europe (and now disappeared), the carnival was held in Portugal’s play dirty with all possible people, especially food. This was the carnival led to their colony, including Brazil.
In the middle of the nineteenth century began to emerge dances, strip clubs and large carnival, not only for parties met. At the beginning of the twentieth century, beginning to realize that fashion with blocks, little by little, were gaining size giving rise to the samba schools that exist today and form the Rio carnival.
Founded in the neighborhood of Estácio in 1928, the Let Talk was the first one. In 1932 was the first non-official parade in 1935 and was the first official parade in the square Eleven June. A Praça Onze was destroyed and the place of the parade was changed several times. In 1984, however, was built to Passarela Samba, local parades for the final. More known as Sambadrome, the site was designed by Oscar Niemeyer, is length of 700 meters, 85 square meters and capacity for 600 thousand people, divided into several sectors.
For over 30 years, the parade of schools was carried out spontaneously. Only in 1963 began to sell seats for the public. Today, the Rio Carnival is one of the largest pride of Rio de Janeiro and is responsible for large investments. Are tickets, advertising, CDs, television rights, etc.. The moon of the title of Carnival champion is much disputed and involves high costs and great need for labor, creating jobs for the communities of each school of samba. Portela, Salgueiro, Mangueira, Império Serrano, Beija-Flor and Imperatriz Leopoldinense are among the most traditional schools, who work the entire year for Carnival.
admin Brazil, Carnival 2010, Carnival Rio, Festival, Rio de Janeiro
