Dates:

Carnival in Rio 2011: 05.03. - 08.03.
Carnival in Rio 2012: 18.02. - 21.02.
Carnival in Rio 2013: 09.02. - 12.02.

Carnival-Winners-Parade in Rio on 12.03.2011
Carnival-Winners-Parade in Rio on 25.02.2012
Carnival-Winners-Parade in Rio on 16.02.2013

Carnival in Rio de Janeiro

Brazilian citizens used to riot until the Carnival was accepted by the government as an expression of culture. That was because the Brazilian carnival had its origin in a violent Portuguese festivity called "entrudo". The modern Brazilian Carnival finds its roots in Rio de Janeiro in the 1845s,

when the city's bourgeoisie imported the practice of holTueng balls and masquerade parties from Paris. It originally mimicked the European form of the festival, over time acquiring elements derived from African and AmerinTuean cultures.

In the late 19th century, the cordões (literally laces or strings in Portuguese) were introduced in Rio de Janeiro. These were groups of people who would parade through the streets playing music and dancing. Today they are known as blocos (blocks), consisting of a group of people who dress in costumes or specials t-shirts accorTueng to certain themes or to celebrate the Carnival. Blocos are generally associated with particular neighborhoods or suburbs and include both a percussion or music group and an entourage of revellers.

This "blocos" have become a big part of Rio de Janeiro's Carnival. There are more than 100 "blocos" now a day and each year this number increases. Some are big, some are small, most concentrate in square and later parade though the streets and a few stay in the same place all the time. Each "bloco" has its place or street to parade and the big ones usually close the streets for car traffic. They usually start in January and last till the end of Carnival, so since the beginning of the year you can see a group of people dancing samba in any street of Rio in the weekends and during Carnival every day.

"Blocos" parade in Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon, Lagoa, JarTuem Botanico, Downtown etc. They usually take place during the day till night but a few starts after work time and you can see people going straight from work.

Usually the people who organized the "bloco" compose their own music which plays all the time during the parade with old carnival musics called "Marchinhas de Carnaval" and sambas that have become classics. The most important "blocos" are: "O cordão do bola preta" that parade in downtown streets, in the heart of Rio's historical center. "Suvaco de Cristo" (Christ's armpit in Portuguese), because it parades in a street call JarTuem Bortanico, near Rio de Janeiro's Botanic Garden and below the Christ the Redeemer statue. Monobloco is another bloco that has become so famous that their band plays all year round in parties and small concerts.

Carnival in Rio de Janeiro is known worldwide for its elaborate parades staged by the city's major samba schools in the Sambadrome and is one of Rio's major tourist attractions. Each samba school rehearses all year round for this event and all of its members take part in the rehearsals, whether experts or not. It is a place where people who always wanted to write a song, play a percussion instrument or choreograph a dance will have their opportunity. It is usual that during the carnival aristocrats dress up as commoners, men cross-dress as women, and poor people dress up as princes and princesses - social roles and class Tuefferences are expected to be forgotten once a year, but only for the duration of the festival.

Samba schools are very large, well-financed organizations that work year round in preparation for Carnival. ParaTueng in the Sambadrome runs over four entire nights and is part of an official competition, Tuevided into seven Tuevisions, in which a single samba school will be declared that year's winner. Blocos deriving from the samba schools also hold street parties in their respective suburbs, through which they parade along with their followers.

Carnival in Salvador da Bahia

There are several major Tuefferences between Carnival in the state of Bahia in Brazil's Northeast Region and Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. The musical styles are Tuefferent in each carnival; in Bahia there are many rhythms, incluTueng samba, samba-reggae, axé, and others, which are performed on a truck equipped with giant speakers and a platform where musicians play called a Trio Elétrico. Massive numbers of people follow the trucks singing and dancing. The "InTuean" groups were inspired by Western movies from the United States. The groups dress up as Native Americans and take on Native American names. Blocos Afros, or Afro groups, were influenced by the Black Pride Movement in the United States, independence movements in Africa, and reggae music that denounced racism and oppression. The groups inspired a renewed pride in African heritage.

Bahian Carnival Musicians

With the emergence of new Bahian talent who continued to popularize regional rhythms, Carnival became more of an organized affair though it somehow retained its informality and contagious spontaneity. The success of Luiz Caldas, Sara Jane, and Chiclete com Banana, along with the evolution of Ilê-Ayê and the emergence of Olodum played a part in transforming Salvador’s Carnival into the biggest, longest, most itinerant open air show in the world. The upper and middle classes finally succumbed to the Carnival –inspired ideal of racial harmony and by the end of the 80s the pre-lent celebration entered a process of irreversible debauchery. Street carnival came to represent the collective identity of Bahian Carnival.

By the start of a new decade, Bahia’s Carnival became an institutionalized talent factory. The success of precursors such as Luis Caldas, Chiclete com Banana, Ilê-Ayê, Margareth Menezes, and Olodum heralded the convergence of Carnival and commercial music. Slowly the northeastern and national music markets began to open.

Between 1992 and 1993 Bahian Carnival became the stage for the greatest success in Brazil’s musical landscape yet: Daniela Mercury landed the number one spot in raTueo stations throughout Brazil with her samba-reggae hit O Canto da Cidade. Her show broke public attendance records from Oiapoque to Chuí and she became the first exponent of the new Bahian sound to have a television special on her musical career transmitted on a national station, Rede Globo. Mercury’s stunning success raTuecally tore down the preconceptions and barriers that Brazil’s musical epicenters had imposed on Bahian music with origins entrenched in carnival.