Do you know which is ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’? Here’s a hint: It’s the biggest celebration in Brazil. If you still haven’t guessed about the Brazil Carnival, don’t worry, we’ll tell you all about it.
It’s a five-day-long Christian festival that starts on the Friday before Ash Wednesday, marking the start of Lent.
Carnival comes from the words Carne Vale which loosely translates to ‘goodbye to meat’. And that’s what Lent is. Catholics above the age of 14 abstain from consuming meat during Lent. Before that, Brazil likes to celebrate!
The Brazil Carnival is all about music, dance, parades, over-the-top costumes, countless tourists, and of course, the Sambodromo. Sambodromo (Sambadrome) is the heart of the festival you can say. Think of it as a gigantic stadium with tourists occupying the stands and various samba schools showing off their moves on the ground. It can seat over 80,000 spectators, plus 5,000 more on the feet!
The music, cheering crowd, drum beats, and trumpet tunes echo through the stadium and spill over to the streets. Along with the ears, even the eyes are in for a treat. During the carnival, the Sambodromo’s performing area sparkles with neon lights, shiny costumes, and feathery headgear of the samba dancers, and all colors known to humankind. This festival is the best example of Africa’s and Europe’s cultural influence on Brazil.
The energy in the stadium is beyond words and naturally, the spectators dance in their seats because they can’t control their excitement! It’s easy to see why the Brazil Carnival is popular throughout the world. Maybe even extraterrestrial beings know about it!
If you wish to be amidst all this grandeur, be here in February.