Rio de Janeiro Carnival

Origins

The very first records of Carnival festivities in Rio date back to the 18th century. The immigrants from the Portuguese islands of Cabo Verde, Madei and Açores introduced the Entrudo. The main idea revolving Entrudo was getting everybody soaked wet as people would go out in the streets "armed" with buckets of water and limes. Zé Pereira was a contribution of a Portuguese shoemaker named José Nogueira de Azevedo, in the middle of the XIX century. On “Carnival Mondays”, he marched the streets with his friends and they played tambourines, whistles, pans and drums. In 1855 debuted the Grandes Sociedades which was a more elaborated and organized parade. The Great Societies were a group of eighty aristocrats with masks that paraded with luxurious costumes, flowers and music.

Cordão Carnavalesco started in 1870 and they were characters like witches, kings, queens, dancers and peasants. They all performed according to the customs that they were wearing. The participants that wore huge papier-mâché masks and walked in an old man's gait were called the Cordões de Velhos. Ranchos Carnavalescos are a contribution of an immigrant from Bahia named Hilário Jovino da Silva and they started back in 1872, but they gained popularity only in 1911. With the sponsorship of a brewery, they started organizing competitions and thus they became one of the most important attractions at the Carnival.

The cordões developed into blocos de sujos, where everyone could join in plain clothes, and blocos de baianas. Their peak was in the 30s and 40s and the most popular were the Bafo da Onça and Cacique de Ramos. In the 40s and 50s the samba schools consolidated their evolution cycle with a theme (+song), floats and costumes. Later on in the 60s and 70s, the samba started to gain prestige with the middle + upper class. The Samba Parade gained popularity and in 1971, there was a time limit set to the parade for every samba school.

Schedule

The Carnival is a 4-day celebration that starts Saturday and ends on Tuesday. The Carnival is usually scheduled in February but sometimes it may be held in March. The dates change every year but if you want to find out the exact day of the next Carnival, take a calendar and count 49 days before the Easter Sunday (of course, Easter Sunday changes every year). The schedule for the next Carnivals is:

2010 – February 13-16

2011 – March 5-8

2012 – February 18-21

2013 – February 9-12

2014 – March 1-4

Description

Carnival Ball Etiquette - tickets are available for purchase at the box office of clubs and venues were the balls happen. Costumes are not obligatory with a few exceptions. Female impersonator and actress Rogeria doubles as a reporter at Scala's Gala Gay Ball.

Gala Balls – the only luxury ball that survived over the years is at the Copacabana Palace on Carnival Sunday. Attractions here include a generous number of international stars, local socialites, soccer players, models, actors and the mayor in some special cases. Individual tickets start at US$500 per person, and cost twice as much if you choose a table in the Golden Room.
Rio de Janeiro Carnival 3

Balls for Singles – “Help” is a disco along the Copacabana Beach and has balls for singles every Carnival night. Tickets cost around $20.

Gay Balls – gays, lesbians, bisexuals, drag queens, transvestites and transsexuals come to the Carnival every year. They celebrate at the Samba Parade, stopping traffic at the street festivities and at the balls. The most traditional ball for alternative lifestyles is Gala Gay at Scala, in Leblon , on Carnival Tuesday. The “Le Boy” disco organizes gay balls every night, alternating the samba with disco music. The balls have different themes and a live attraction every night.

Street Carnival Festivities – each neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro has its favorite Bandas or Blocos. Both of them consist of an orchestra marching along a pre-established path, followed by hordes of enthusiastic samba dancers. They come dressed in plain clothes, drag, costumes, bathing suits or special T-shirts. The difference between a banda and bloco is that in a banda, the orchestra plays popular Carnival hits while in a bloco there is a special theme song that they choose every year. The similarity between the Bandas and the Blocos is that all of them gather first to a well-known place and after a couple of hours of concentration, the band starts marching its way down the streets.

Off-Carnival Dance Parties – big parties organized at Pier Maua, Circo Voador and Anexo do Mam are very popular among tourists. Dance clubs are also available where guest DJs are playing hot songs to the delight of the participants.