When Carnaval comes, the country gets down to some of the most serious partying in the world. A Caribbean carnival might prepare you a little, but what happens in Brazil goes on longer, is more spectacular and on a far larger scale. everywhere in Brazil, large or small, has some form of Carnaal, and in three places especially - Rio, Salador and Olinda -Carnaal has become a mass event, involving almost the entire populations of the cities and drawing visitors from all over the world.

When exactly Carnaal begins depends on the ecclesiastical calendar: it starts at midnight of the Friday before Ash Wednesday and ends on the Wednesday night, though effectively people start partying on Friday afternoon - over fie days of continuous, determined celebration. It usually happens in the middle of February, although very occasionally it can be early March. But in effect the entire period from Christmas is a kind of run-up to Carnaval. People start working on costumes, songs are composed and rehearsals staged in school playgrounds and back yards, so that Carnaval comes as a culmination rather than a sudden burst of excitement and color.

During the couple of weekends immediately before Carnaval proper there are carnival balls, bailes carnavalescos, which get pretty wild. Don't expect to find many things open or to get much done in the week before Carnaval, or the week after it, when the country takes a few days off to shake off its enormous collective hangover.

Google maps

During Carnaval itself, stores open briefly on Monday and Tuesday mornings, but banks and offices stay closed. Domestic airlines, local and inter-city buses run a Sunday service during the period.

Three Brazilian carnivals in particular have become famous, each with a very distinctive feel. The most familiar and most spectacular is in Rio, dominated by samba and the parade of samba schools down the enormous concrete expanse of the gloriously named Sambódromo. It is one of the world's great sights, and is teleised lie to the whole country. However, it has its critics. It is certainly less participatory than Olinda or Salador, with people crammed into grandstands watching, rather than down following the schools.

Salador is, in many ways, the antithesis of Rio, with several focuses around the old city centre: the parade is only one of a number of things going on, and people follow parading schools and the trio elétrico, groups playing on top of trucks wired for sound. Samba is only one of several types of music being played, and, if it's music you're interested in, Salador is the best place to hear and see it.

Olinda, in a magical colonial setting just outside Recife, has a character all its own, less frantic than Rio and Salador; musically it's dominated by frevo, the fast, whirling beat of Pernambuco.
 

Olinda, in a magical colonial setting just outside Recife, has a character all its own, less frantic than Rio and Salador; musically it's dominated by frevo, the fast, whirling beat of Pernambuco.

Some places you would think are large enough to have an impressie Carnaal are in fact notoriously bad at it: cities in this category are São Paulo, Brasília and Belo Horizonte. On the other hand, there are also places which have much better Carnavals than you would expect: the one in Belém is very distinctive, with the Amazonian food and rhythms of the carimbó, and Fortaleza also has a good reputation. The South, usually written off by most people as far as Carnaal is concerned, has major events in Florianópolis primarily aimed at attracting Argentine and São Paulo tourists, and the smaller but more distinctive Carnaval in Laguna. There are full details of the events, music and happenings at each of the main Carnavals under the relevant sections of the guide.

Read also Rio' street carnial

Rio pictures 1
Rio pictures 2
and see also

Pictures of Rio by
Thereza Eugenia

Pictures of Brazil by
Cecilia dos Guimaraes
Bastos
 

  Rio de Janeiro guide

  Rio de Janeiro
  Brief history
  State
  travel details
  Warning
  Orientation: Centro,
    Zona Sul, Zona Norte
  Getting around
Nightlife
  Film
  Rio Gay
  Best of Rio
  Info
 Favelas
 Arrival
 Shopping
 Carnaal
Eating and drinking:
Churrascarias, vegetarian
For eating in Brazil, read also:
Eating & drinking
     Street foods,
     snacks
     Restaurants
     vegetarian /natural
     Soft drinks, hot
     drinks

Zona Sul
Sports, beach fashion
Arpoador, Ipanema,
Leblon
Jardim Botanico
Lagoa
Lagoa Christmas tree
Leme and Copacabana Beach
Alto da Boa ista, Parque Nacional da Tijuca
Urca and Pao-de-Acucar
gavea and Jockey Club

 Buzios

Buzios Town and its beaches
Restaurants
Eating options
Getting there
Getting around
Climate and travel info
Buzios Beaches
  Buzios Beaches 2
Buzios Scuba diving
  Buzios Golf
 Buzios Stones St and
    night life
Ecotourism
Hotels in Buzios