In Brazil , the saying goes that carnival begins right after the New Year. So, since last month, exuberant Brazilians dressed in their sparkliest and skimpiest outfits have sambaed through the city’s historical centre to the sound of percussion and brass bands, lured to the streets as the blocos , musical troupes that lead the street parties proclaim the unofficial launch of carnival.
“I feel ecstatic,” said Juliana Santos, a 41-year-old vocal therapist who on a recent weekend set out dressed as the Queen of Hearts for a day chasing blocos.
Officially, more than a thousand blocos have permission to roam the streets between late January and late February for what the mayor of Rio, Eduardo Paes, has declared will be a “carnival of democracy”.
Traditional, authorised blocos in Brazil are the principal pillars of street carnival, of course, but this spontaneous carnival sometimes called alternative carnival, unofficial carnival is essential,” said Raphael Pavan, a self-confessed carnival enthusiast who co-organised one such spontaneous bloco creatively christened “Geleia da Shakira” (Shakira’s Jam)
As with other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, carnival in Brazil is a traditional celebration in preparation for the Feast of Lent.
Pre-Carnival happens in the weeks and months leading up to the main carnival. The samba-schools perform dress rehearsals and the blocos practice their parade routes.
The parties are so intense that some cities are becoming more famous for their Pre-Carnival festivities than carnival itself. The parade rehearsals, balls and regular gatherings of blocos are all grounds to organize a great pre-party open to all .
Popular festivities comprised of “blocos” and “bandas”, usually extending over 2 to 3 weeks (becoming more intense on weekends), the pre-carnival offers an additional opportunity for Brazilians to go out and party.
During this period, neighborhoods and bandas begin to mobilize their members to the sound of samba and marcinhas (joyful walks). Several thousand people (disguised or not) then join the streets to parade, dance and have fun until the official opening of the carnival.
The carnival , with a focus on fanfares, baterias (percussions) and trios elétricos (lorry mounted stages), these celebrations are distinguished by their warm and authentic character.
The great advantage of attending a preview of the festivities through precarnaval . This part of the festival, presents a great opportunity to catch the latest rehearsals of traditional carnival shows.
In the sambodromes of Rio and São Paulo, it is possible to take in the technical and competitive aspects of the different samba schools.
The pre-carnival allows the chances to preview elaborate choreographies (enredo) while avoiding the vast crowd present at official performances and benefiting from free admission
Similar to during the carnival, the weeks of preparation are marked by several popular balls. These events are very often organized at neighborhood level, taking place in a club, a bar or even in the street. This is an opportunity one should grasp to discover musical and festive Brazilian culture by mixing with the locals to share their good mood
If Rio’s carefully choreographed samba school parades are considered by many the greatest show on earth, the city’s irreverent and riotous street carnival is “the greatest ritual on earth”, according to Raquel Potí, a familiar face at carnival who helped introduce the now ubiquitous stilt walkers into bloco culture.
Sao Paulo Carnival is one of Brazil’s best carnival celebrations. It puts on Samba Parades that can easily rival the ones seen at Rio de Janeiro
Brazilians are the undisputed carnival kings when it comes to celebrating! While Sao Paulo carnival may not have the same fame as carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Salvador or Recife and Olinda, it actually puts on a carnival celebration that can easily rival them all.
São Paulo’s world-famous samba parades are second only to Rio de Janeiro in terms of extravagance and decadence. The Parades are considered the highlight of Sao Paulo Carnival with over 30,000 attendees and 25,000 performers.
The street parties known as blocos draw crowds of millions onto the streets of Sao Paulo for wild carnival celebrations. The carnival spirit is just as vibrant in Sao Paulo as any other city in Brazil.
Carnival was first introduced to Brazil with the early Portuguese settlers who used to hold masquerade balls and private parties before the onset of Lent.
The African slaves would throw their own carnival celebrations mocking their European owners and over the years the European traditions merged with the African traditions and public street celebrations and parades began to be held.
Back in the fifties carnival celebrations in Sao Paulo were still relatively small. Only a few samba schools existed who would parade on the streets. However, over the years the event continued to grow and today Sao Paulo’s Sambodromo draws millions of visitors.
In Brazil, Samba is much more than a type of dance or music, it is a diverse and versatile art form that is an important part of Brazil’s culture and heritage. Samba music was born in the Brazilian favelas and Brazilians are fiercely proud of their heritage.
Samba dominates every aspect of carnival in Sao Paulo from samba songs, to samba themes, the upbeat and catchy music is inescapable during carnival season in Brazil.
Sao Paulo Carnival is similar to Rio hosting a prestigious samba competition that sees Sao Paulo’s top 13 Samba Schools compete against each other. São Paulo, like Rio, also has its own Sambadrome, named Sambodromo do Anhembi.
Anhembi Sambadrome opened in 1991 and holds up to 30,000 spectators. It was built similar to Rio and because the popularity of the samba parades continued to grow year after year. The Anhembi Sambadrome is the heart and soul of Carnival in Sao Paulo.
The Samba Shows that are seen at the Sambadrome amount to a years’ worth of planning. A lot of creativity as well as blood, sweat and tears go into creating the parades. Anhembi Sambadrome Samba Parades features thousands of performers, incredible floats and gorgeous costumes.
The winning Samba School receives nation-wide fame and adoration. Additionally, the Champion Samba School’s song will also become a nation-wide hit getting continuous air play throughout the year.
Samba Schools in Brazil are not like the name suggests a teaching school but samba clubs that represent different neighbourhoods. Samba Schools are similar to soccer teams in that they have avid supporters and receive loyalty and support from their fans.
The most popular samba schools in Sao Paulo are Mocidade Alegre, Vai-Vai, Academicos do Tucuruvi, Rosas de Ouro and Unidos de Vila Maria.
The top 14 Sao Paulo Samba Schools that compete in the Main Samba Parade are called the Grupo Especial. These samba schools compete against each other in a two-night extravaganza with the aim of winning the prestigious title for Best Samba School.
The top Sao Paulo Samba Schools are judged in numerous categories including music, theme, costumes and choreography. The event is broadcast to a national audience on the Saturday and Sunday of Carnival week, so as to not distract from Rio’s Samba Parades, which are also televised.
The second division Sao Paulo Samba Schools also get to perform at the Sambadrome during carnival! Their parades are just as creative and as amazing to watch as the Special Group because their motivation is to advance into the Special Group for the following year.
Think of it like premier league football; the best performing groups from the Access groups move into the Special Group, and the worst performing groups from the Special Group move down to the Access Group. It makes the samba parades one fierce fight! The tickets are a little cheaper to see this group.
The Sao Paulo Samba parade allows anyone who is interested to participate, even tourists. It is the ultimate carnival experience and all you must do is organize it with one of the participating samba schools ahead of time.
