Rio Carnival – A adventure like no other |
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Rio Carnival is the best known and the most famous carnival on the planet, the Rio Carnival is an adventure in itself. Brazil is largely identified with this Carnival; the carnival is celebrated in one of Brazil’s largest cities, Rio de Janeiro. The Rio Carnival is a 4 day riot of wanton celebrations, beginning 40 days before Easter. The Carnival officially begins on Saturday and concludes on Fat Tuesday, a day before Ash Wednesday, when Lent begins. The Rio Carnival has a distinct flavor entirely due to the influence of its Native American and African inhabitants. |
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The starting of the Carnival is obscure but it cannot be said that it started when the Greeks and Romans celebrated the fertility festivals. The festivities then included drenching each other and people would throw water and limes on one and all. The elite and the commoners all took part in the festivities. The modern Rio Carnival is a modern variety of celebrations there is spontaneous flow of gaiety, merrymaking. The Rio Carnival starts with the ritual offering of a massive silver and gold key to the Fat King Momo (God of Mockery) by the city Mayor. Each district in Rio has its very own carnival street band. The bands put up spontaneous dance performances from the beginning of the year at street corners accompanied by their distinctive music, and singing their own samba songs.
These street bands have their own distinct routes and they parade along these routes only, on their way they are joined by revelers. Most of the time the revelers are dressed in costumes, but many a times they are in Bikinis or plain clothes. The music played by these bands is basically Samba. Samba is a uniquely Brazilian music with African roots. The Samba schools are an important component of the Rio Carnival. Each school is affiliated to a neighborhood and creates the pageants of the Samba Parade. There are about 30 primary Samba schools with thousands of members. Each school is fronted by a queen and led by hundreds of drummers and a cavalcade of floats. The preparation for this carnival happens throughout the year, the samba schools with thousands of members get together on a regular basis throughout the year for rehearsals and samba nights. There are fixed rehearsal spaces for these schools which are called s quadras de samba. Generally they open in weekends for everyone for small fees. The preparations heighten as the parade day approaches. The colors, music, energy levels at Rio Carnival are just unmatchable, so just be there to enjoy the next year’s Carnival.
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