Each year thousands upon thousands flock to Rio de Janeiro to partake in the years Carnival, the largest celebration of its kind.
Carnaval (also spelled Carnival) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is the largest festival in the country each year and one of the major reasons people have this party image of Brazil. The festival combines, samba, sex, alcohol, food, parades, contests, and an all out fun in the streets and on the beaches.
The 4-day festival is held during lent, which falls at the end of February or begining of March each year. It starts on Saturday, and ends on Fat Tuesday, or Mardi-Gras. Although Rio has the largest festival, events are held around Brazil, South America, and throughout the world.
The festival is divided up into a number of events. The Street Carnival is where costume laden neighborhood groups called bandas or blocas set up on a route the the streets and march, dance, sing, and drink to their own music. The difference between the two is that bandas play tradtional Carnival hits, while, blocas play one theme song over and over again all night long. The groups attract many followers with the largest attracting tens of thousands.
Carnival Balls are closed affairs where two bands and a guest vocalist take turns playing to a lively crowd all night long. The costumed balls are categorized by Gala, Singels, Gay and several other categories. Tickets to the balls range between $20-50, with the best balls being held on Carnival Friday, Saturday and Tuesday.
One of the biggest events is the Samba School parade in Rio's Sambodrome street stadium. The competition begins at starts at 9 pm and lasts until sunrise the next day, at around 6 or 7 a.m. The schools aren't actually schools per se, but neighborhood and community groups that attend the event each year. They are made up of several thousand people each, along with a handful of parade floats. They are upgraded or downgraded based on their performance and competiton is fierce. The event is broadcats internationally and tickets are quite expensive.
The first Carnival festivities in Rio date to 1723, when immigrants from the Portuguese islands of Açores, Madeira and Cabo Verde arrived int he country. It was far less organized however. The party consisted of people in the streets attempting to soak anyone else with buckets of water and limes. In 1855, the Grandes Sociedades organized a parade with costumes, music, and flowers. In the 20th century, with a sponsorship of a brewery, Hanseática, organized competitions began, which are still a big part of the festivities to this day.
