The carnival is considered one of the most exciting and popular celebrations in the world. It has it’s origins in the Portuguese carnival where, in the past, people used to throw eggs, flour and water on each other. The carnival was realized prior to lent and, therefore, symbolized freedom. Even today, this link still exists.
The carnival came to Brazil around the XVII th centyry and was influenced by the European carnival festivities. In countries like Italy and France, the carnival used to happen in the form of urban parades, where the participants were wearing masks and costumes. European characters like Colombina, Pierrot, and the King Momo have been integrated to the Brazilian carnival.
At the end of the XIXth century, in Brazil, the carnival “blocks” starts to appear,as well as “cordões” and the famous “corsos”. People used to wear their costumes, ornament their cars and parade through the city streets, in groups. This have originated the allegoric vehicles, characteristic of the today samba schools.
In the XXth century, the carnival increased even more, becoming a large popular celebration. The carnival folk songs contributed a lot to this development. The first samba school was originated in Rio de Janeiro, funded by Ismael Silva and was named “Deixa Falar”. Years later, this school became “Estácio de Sá”. Fro that moment on, the street carnival starts to have a new structure. New schools are created in Rio de Janeiro and in |São Paulo and finaly, the first competitions are organized to choose the more exiting and prettiest one.
I’ve spent my last carnival holidays with my family in Rio de Janeiro. Most of the time I was enjoying the beech and Rio’s turistic place, like Tijuca forest, the Lagoa lake, the Sugar Loaf and so on. However, I watched on TV the competition between the best samba schools. Unfortunately, Beija Flor, the school I was supporting, has lost this year. Maybe I would be more lucky the next year.
I am not a big fan of carnival, but I do enjoy the excitement, the colors, the songs and the rhythm of this unique Brazilian spectacle.