Brazil's Carnival Holiday

By Erik

It's based on the Christian calendar, but it isn't approved by the Church very well.

 It starts on Saturday and finishes on a Thursday. People put on their costumes and go out into the streets or to clubs.

 There are also the Samba schools which make a parade showing their music, fantasies, and allegorical cars.

 The problem is that it is not approved by the church in the Northwest where carnival is more traditional. There people don't respect its end and continue to party until the next Sunday.

 The typical genres of music of Brazilian carnival are, in Rio de Janeiro (and Southeast Region in general): the samba-enredo, the samba de bloco, the samba de embalo and the marchinha; in Pernambuco and Bahia (and Northeast Region in general) the main genres are: the frevo, the maracatu, the samba-reggae and Ax music.

Styles by State Bahia style

There are several major differences between Carnival in the state of Bahia in Northeastern Brazil and Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. The musical styles are different at each carnival; in Bahia there are many rhythms, including samba, samba-reggae, ax, etc., while in Rio there is the multitude of samba styles: the "samba-enredo", the "samba de bloco", the "samba de embalo", the "funk-samba", as well as the famous "marchinhas" played by the "bandas" in the streets.

Rio de Janeiro style

Carnival time in Rio is a very interesting, but is also the most expensive time to visit Rio. Hotel rooms can be up to four times more expensive than the regular rates. There are big crowds at some locations and life is far from ordinary in many parts of town. Street Carnival Bands, called "Blocos de Rua", have become an expressive feature of Rio's Carnival. Samba schools are very large groups of performers, financed by respected organizations (as well as illegal gambling groups), who work year round in preparation for Carnival. Samba Schools perform in the Sambadrome, which runs four entire nights. They are part of an official competition, divided into seven divisions, in which a single school is declared the winner, according to costume, flow, theme, and band music quality and performance.