Carnival - The World's Largest Party
Located on South America’s southeast coastline, Brazil has miles of beautiful beaches and acres of tropical rainforests which belong to the Amazon Rainforest. Within the larger cities, such as Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the landscape is filled with vibrant architecture and millions of people. The weather is warm year-round which provides for a great place to socialize. With Sao Paulo being more of a laid back city, Rio de Janeiro is just the opposite. Because of Carnival, an annual festival held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the city has a reputation of being the largest party city of the planet.
Originating in Europe, Carnival has a rich history. For instance, hundreds of years ago during medieval times, “the followers of the Catholic religion in Italy started the tradition of holding a wild costume festival right before the first day of Lent,” which is a Catholic holiday to reflect upon Jesus (Nunley, John W.). They threw this festival to celebrate the oncoming of Lent. People wore simple, self-made costumes of fabric while large amounts of food were prepared; this was often times some sort of meat served with alcohol (Nunley, John W.). Since “Catholics are not supposed to eat meat during Lent,” the followers wanted a last chance to eat it before they had to follow their religious practices (Nunley, John W.). Because of this, this festival was named “Carnevale – which means ‘to put away the meat’” (Nunley, John W.). Over many years Carnival grew popular, spreading throughout Europe.
As the rest of the world was being discovered, Carnival continued to grow. For example, when the “French, Spanish, and Portuguese [found and] began to take control of the Americas, they brought with them their tradition of celebrating Carnival” (Nunley, John W.). As these territories grew in population and became countries, the popularity and size of Carnival also grew. Soon Carnival would be celebrated in many countries throughout the world with the most popular of celebrations being celebrated in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
While its roots originated in Europe, Carnival soon spread to Brazil and morphed into a new type of celebration. As Portuguese conquistadores founded and claimed Brazil as theirs, they “brought with them slave trading… in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth century until 1888 when it was banned” (Carnival History). These African slaves made an impact on Carnival by mixing their cultural traditions with that of Carnival. For instance, the costumes of Carnival were borrowed “from the African tradition of putting together natural objects (bones, grasses, beads, shells, fabric)” (Nunley, John W.). This made the costumes of the festival more interesting and gave each costume a unique look. Also, Africans believed parading through villages brought “good fortune… [and healed personal] problems” (Carnival History). This led to an annual parade of costumes dancing through the streets the day before Lent. Lastly, samba, a Brazilian genre of music was established through “African dance and music traditions… as African drum rhythms, large puppets, stick figures, and stilt dancers began to make their appearances in the… festivities” (Nunley, John W.). The people originally brought to Brazil as slaves created their own style of music and incorporated it into the original Carnival traditions. In all, the influence African heritage had on Carnival was enormous.
Today Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is a major event in their culture. It is
“a four day event [that] starts on Saturday and ends on Fat Tuesday leading up to Ash Wednesday, [which is] the beginning of Lent in the Roman Catholic calendar” (Rio Carnival Guide). This leads to a long week of celebration and dancing in the streets. The celebration is an enormous parade which “starts at nine o’clock p.m. and goes on until sunlight the next day, around five o’clock or six o’clock a.m.” (Samba Parade Guide). From what my Brazilian friend Anna has described to me in the past, the samba dancers consist of beautiful women whose costumes are made of feathers and show large amounts of skin. During this four day event, large quantities of alcohol are consumed by party-goers. To sum up, Carnival is a major event within Catholic countries with the largest taking place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Because of the enormous population in and around the city, Carnival is a gigantic, seemingly endless party. Being located in a warm, tropical climate which sits near the ocean, Rio de Janeiro is an excellent place for people to gather and socialize. This is why Rio de Janeiro, Brazil has a reputation of being the planet’s ultimate party city.
Originating in Europe, Carnival has a rich history. For instance, hundreds of years ago during medieval times, “the followers of the Catholic religion in Italy started the tradition of holding a wild costume festival right before the first day of Lent,” which is a Catholic holiday to reflect upon Jesus (Nunley, John W.). They threw this festival to celebrate the oncoming of Lent. People wore simple, self-made costumes of fabric while large amounts of food were prepared; this was often times some sort of meat served with alcohol (Nunley, John W.). Since “Catholics are not supposed to eat meat during Lent,” the followers wanted a last chance to eat it before they had to follow their religious practices (Nunley, John W.). Because of this, this festival was named “Carnevale – which means ‘to put away the meat’” (Nunley, John W.). Over many years Carnival grew popular, spreading throughout Europe.
As the rest of the world was being discovered, Carnival continued to grow. For example, when the “French, Spanish, and Portuguese [found and] began to take control of the Americas, they brought with them their tradition of celebrating Carnival” (Nunley, John W.). As these territories grew in population and became countries, the popularity and size of Carnival also grew. Soon Carnival would be celebrated in many countries throughout the world with the most popular of celebrations being celebrated in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
While its roots originated in Europe, Carnival soon spread to Brazil and morphed into a new type of celebration. As Portuguese conquistadores founded and claimed Brazil as theirs, they “brought with them slave trading… in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth century until 1888 when it was banned” (Carnival History). These African slaves made an impact on Carnival by mixing their cultural traditions with that of Carnival. For instance, the costumes of Carnival were borrowed “from the African tradition of putting together natural objects (bones, grasses, beads, shells, fabric)” (Nunley, John W.). This made the costumes of the festival more interesting and gave each costume a unique look. Also, Africans believed parading through villages brought “good fortune… [and healed personal] problems” (Carnival History). This led to an annual parade of costumes dancing through the streets the day before Lent. Lastly, samba, a Brazilian genre of music was established through “African dance and music traditions… as African drum rhythms, large puppets, stick figures, and stilt dancers began to make their appearances in the… festivities” (Nunley, John W.). The people originally brought to Brazil as slaves created their own style of music and incorporated it into the original Carnival traditions. In all, the influence African heritage had on Carnival was enormous.
Today Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is a major event in their culture. It is
“a four day event [that] starts on Saturday and ends on Fat Tuesday leading up to Ash Wednesday, [which is] the beginning of Lent in the Roman Catholic calendar” (Rio Carnival Guide). This leads to a long week of celebration and dancing in the streets. The celebration is an enormous parade which “starts at nine o’clock p.m. and goes on until sunlight the next day, around five o’clock or six o’clock a.m.” (Samba Parade Guide). From what my Brazilian friend Anna has described to me in the past, the samba dancers consist of beautiful women whose costumes are made of feathers and show large amounts of skin. During this four day event, large quantities of alcohol are consumed by party-goers. To sum up, Carnival is a major event within Catholic countries with the largest taking place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Because of the enormous population in and around the city, Carnival is a gigantic, seemingly endless party. Being located in a warm, tropical climate which sits near the ocean, Rio de Janeiro is an excellent place for people to gather and socialize. This is why Rio de Janeiro, Brazil has a reputation of being the planet’s ultimate party city.
posted by Michael Bus at
8:10 AM
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