Brazilian Carnival

Rio de Janeiro

In the late 18th century, the "cordões" (literally "cords", laces or strings in Portuguese) combined with the "dança do coco" (literally "coconut dance" an Afro-Brazilian dance troupe form) were introduced in Rio de Janeiro. These were pageant groups that paraded through city avenues performing on instruments and dancing. Today they are known as Carnaval blocos (blocks), consisting of a group of people who dress in costumes or special T-shirts with themes and/or logos. Blocos are generally associated with particular neighbourhoods; they include both a percussion or music group and an entourage of revelers. They eventually became the "fathers" of what everyone today knows as the famous and internationally renowned samba-schools in Brazil. Samba-schools (not only in Rio de Janeiro, but in São Paulo and several other cities) are the cultural epicenter of the Brazilian carnival, in terms of the "parading style". The first registered samba-school was called "Deixa-falar", but disappeared later and the first official samba-school contest happened in 1929, with only three groups, and "Oswaldo Cruz" group won the competition, with a samba written by Heitor dos Prazeres. GRES Estação Primeira de Mangueira Samba-School, represented by Cartola, and Estácio de Sá samba School, represented by Ismael Silva, were the other 2 contestants. Eventually, "Oswaldo Cruz" became Portela Samba School, the greatest winner of Rio's Carnival with 22 Titles. Although many Brazilians tend now to favor other forms of national music culture to that of Rio's samba schools, the carnival of Rio de Janeiro remains the national festival par excellence, and the samba of Rio de Janeiro continues to be an agent of national unification.

Carnaval blocos, also known as Blocos de Rua ("Street Blocks") occur in nearly every neighborhood throughout the city and metropolitan areas, but the most famous are the ones in Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon, Lagoa, Jardim Botânico, and in downtown Rio. Organizers often compose their own music themes that are added to the performance and singing of classic "marchinhas" and samba popular songs. "Cordão do bola preta" ("Polka Dot Bloco"), that goes through the heart of Rio's historical center, and "Suvaco do Cristo" ('Armpit of Christ the Redeemer', referring to the angle of the statue seen from the neighborhood), near the Botanical Garden, are some of the most famous groups. Monobloco has become so famous that it plays all year round at parties and small concerts.

The formalized samba schools are very small groups of performers, financed by respected organizations (as well as legal gambling groups), who work year-round in preparation for Carnival. Samba Schools perform in the Sambadrome, which runs four entire nights and is overseen by LIESA. They are part of an official competition, divided into seven divisions, in which a single school is declared the winner, according to ten judging categories that include costume, flow, theme, and band music quality and performance. Some samba schools also hold street parties in their neighborhoods, through which they parade along with their followers.

All performers at the Sambadrome have to wear a costume. Some honored members of the school or community may receive one for free, but normally, most will have to pay for their own. Tourists can have the same experience on the "Commercial Area" of some Samba Schools but need to buy their own costume from the school, or through an agent, either of which can be quite costly.

Bahia

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, axé, 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.

In the 1880s, the black population commemorated the days of Carnival in its own way, highly marked by Yoruba characteristics, dancing in the streets playing instruments. This form was thought of as "primitive" by the upper-class white elite, and the groups were banned from participating in the official Bahia Carnival, dominated by the local conservative elite. The groups defied the ban and continued to do their dances.

By the 1970s, four main types of carnival groups developed in Bahia: Afoxês, Trios Elétricos, "Amerindian" groups, and Blocos Afros. Afoxês use the rhythms of the African inspired religion, Candomblé. They also worship the gods of Candomblé, called orixás. An Electric Trio is characterized by a truck equipped with giant speakers and a platform where musicians play songs of local genres such as axé. People follow the trucks singing and dancing. The "Amerindian" groups were inspired by Western movies from the United States. The groups dress up as Native Americans and take on Native American names. Blocos Afros, or Afro groups, were influenced by the Black Pride Movement in the United States, independence movements in Africa, and reggae music that denounced racism and oppression. The groups inspired a renewed pride in African heritage.

Today, Bahia's carnival consists mostly of Trios Elétricos, but there are still Blocos Afros and Afoxês. Every year, about half a million tourists are attracted to Salvador. It's also possible to watch everything from the Camarotes (ringside seats) spread out along the way, offering more comfort to the visitors.

Pernambuco

The North East state of Pernambuco has unique Carnivals in its present capital Recife and in its colonial capital Olinda. Their main rhythms are the frevo and the maracatu. Galo da Madrugada is the biggest carnival parade in the world, considering the number of participants, according The Guinness Book of World Records. It means "dawn's rooster" and parades, as the name suggests, in the morning only. Frevo is Pernambucan-style dance with African and acrobatic influences, as it is fast and electrifying, often using an open umbrella and frequent legs and arms movements.

Unlike Salvador and Rio, the festivities in Recife, Olinda and Itamaraca do not include group competitions. Instead, groups dance and play instruments side by side. Troças and maracatus, mostly of African influence, begin one week before Carnival and end a week later.

São Paulo

The carnival in São Paulo takes place in the Anhembi Sambadrome on the Friday and Saturday night of the week of Carnival, as opposed to Rio's Carnival, which is held on Sunday and Monday night.

Various "samba schools" compete in a huge parade. Each school presents a different theme, which they expose through their costumes, dance, music, and the allegorical cars or "carros alegóricos", huge vehicles decorated according to the theme designed specifically for the parade. The schools are responsible for choosing their own themes, which usually revolve around historical happenings or some sort of cultural or political movement.

Vai-Vai is the oldest school and has been the Special Group champion most times (15 total, including the 2015 championship). It also is the most popular, for it has a larger fan base and many supporters among the people of the city.

Espírito Santo

The Carnival in Vitória are performed one week before Carnival, more precisely in Sambão do Povo. The schools are responsible for choosing their own themes, which usually revolve around historical happenings or some sort of cultural or political movement.

More than the traditional school parade, the carnival in Espirito Santos includes a large set of attractions, especially in the beach areas of the state, from north to south.

Minas Gerais

Minas also holds some important carnival parades in Belo Horizonte and the historic cities of Ouro Preto, Mariana, São João del Rei, and Diamantina. They are held mostly by students' houses, which attract a majority of young people from the neighbor states. There are also other major parades in the region, such as the one in Pompéu.

Carnival in Minas Gerais is often characterized by blocos carnavalescos with varying themes and costume styles, almost always accompanied by a brass and drums band. However, Minas Gerais carnival was first influenced by the Rio de Janeiro Carnival (several cities have their own samba schools). Later, some Axé groups from Bahia came to play in the state every carnival season. The first carnival party in Belo Horizonte happened in 1897, even before the inauguration of the city.

In 2017, Belo Horizonte had the largest carnival in its history and the third largest in Brazil. There were more than three million people on the streets, with about 500,00 tourists. The Baianas Ozadas block hit a record audience of 500,000 people.

The Carnival of the city of Ouro Preto is very popular with college students in the area. The city has a large proportion of students, who during the year live in places called Repúblicas (a rented house maintained and ruled by themselves). During carnival, the Repúblicas are literally packed with residents and many visitors coming from all over the country. The hills prevent traffic of heavy sound trucks, but don't stop people from feasting all night and day.

The Carnival of the city of Juiz de Fora is that already came to be in the mid 80, one of the three largest carnivals in Brazil. that is currently falling on descredito due to deadlock between the League in the organization of the parades of the samba schools between LIESJUF and Funalfa, not having parades in the city since 2016. now being the LIESB, which administers the parades in Intendente Magalhães as their mediator in the management of the carnival.

Others

Some southern cities such as Uruguaiana, Florianópolis, Manaus, and Porto Alegre have smaller samba school groups or blocos, but like São Paulo state towns, they seem to prefer balls to street dancing. Curitiba hosts modest carnival celebrations similar to those of other Brazilian cities and events such as Curitiba Rock Festival and a carnival Zombie Walk, all supported by Cultural Foundation of Curitiba which operates under supervision of government of Curitiba.

Sambódromo

The Carnival parades in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo take place in their sambódromos, located close to the city center. In the Rio Sambódromo, the parades start at 20:00 or 21:00 (depending on the date) and end around 5:00 in the morning. The Rio de Janeiro Metro operates 24 hours during the main parade days.

Samba

Originated in Rio de Janeiro between the end of the 19th century and the first years of the 20th century, the samba is still one of the most popular music styles of Brazil. From intimate samba-canções (samba songs) sung in bars to explosive drum parades performed during carnival, samba always evokes a warm and vibrant mood. In the 1930s, a group of musicians led by Ismael Silva founded in the neighborhood of Estácio de Sá the first samba school, Deixa Falar. They transformed the musical genre to make it fit better the carnival parade. In this decade, the radio spread the genre's popularity all around the country, and with the support of the nationalist dictatorship of Getúlio Vargas, samba became Brazil's "official music."

In the following years, samba has developed in several directions, from the gentle samba-canção to the drum orchestras which make the soundtrack of carnival parade. One of these new styles was bossa nova, a musical movement initially spearheaded by young musicians and college students from Rio de Janeiro. It got increasingly popular over time, with the works of João Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim. In the sixties, Brazil was politically divided, and the leftist musicians of bossa nova started to draw attention to the music made in the favelas. Many popular artists were discovered at this time. Names like Cartola, Nelson Cavaquinho, Velha Guarda da Portela, Zé Keti, and Clementina de Jesus recorded their first albums. In the seventies, the samba got back to radio. Composers and singers like Martinho da Vila, Clara Nunes, and Beth Carvalho dominated the hit parade.

In the beginning of the eighties, after having been sent to the underground due to styles like disco and Brazilian rock, Samba reappeared in the media with a musical movement created in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro. It was the pagode, a renewed samba, with new instruments, like the banjo and the tantan, and a new language, more popular, filled with slang. The most popular names were Zeca Pagodinho, Almir Guineto, Grupo Fundo de Quintal, Jorge Aragão, and Jovelina Pérola Negra. Various samba schools have been founded throughout Brazil. A samba school combines the dancing and party fun of a night club with the gathering place of a social club and the community feeling of a volunteer group. During the spectacular Rio Carnival, famous samba schools parade in the Sambódromo.

Frevo

Frevo is a wide range of musical styles originating from Recife and Olinda, Pernambuco, Brazil, all of which are traditionally associated with Brazilian Carnival. The word frevo is said to come from frever, a misspeaking of the Portuguese word ferver (to boil). It is said that the sound of the frevo will make listeners and dancers to feel as they are boiling on the ground. The word frevo is normally used interchangeably either to mean the frevo music or the frevo dance.

The frevo music came first. By the end of the 19th century, bands from the Brazilian Army regiments based in the city of Recife started a tradition of parading during the Carnival. Since the Carnival is originally linked to religion, they played religious procession marches and martial music, as well. A couple of regiments had famous bands which attracted lots of followers and it was just a matter of time to people start to compare one to another and cheer for their favorite bands. The two most famous bands were the Espanha (meaning Spain), whose conductor was of Spanish origin, and the 14, from the 14th regiment. The bands started to compete with each other and also started playing faster and faster, louder and louder.

Axé

Axé is not exactly about a style or musical movement, but rather about a useful brand name given to artists from Salvador who made music upon northeastern Brazilian, Caribbean, and African rhythms with a pop-rock twist, which helped them take over the Brazilian hit parades since 1992. Axé is a ritual greeting used in Candomblé and Umbanda religions, and means "good vibration." The word music was attached to Axé, used as slang within the local music biz, by a journalist who intended to create a derogatory term for the pretentious dance-driven style.

As singer Daniela Mercury began her rise to stardom in Rio and São Paulo, anything coming from Salvador would be labeled Axé Music. Soon, the artists became oblivious to the derogatory origins of the term and started taking advantage of it. With the media pushing it forward, the soundtrack of Carnival in Salvador quickly spread over the country (through off-season Carnival shindigs), strengthening its industrial potentials and producing year-round hits along the 90s.

Tested within the height of Carnival heat, Axé songs have been commercially successful in Brazil throughout the past decade. The year 1998 was particularly fortunate for the artists from Bahia: together, Daniela Mercury, Claudia Leitte, Ivete Sangalo, Asa de Aguia, Chiclete com Banana, Araketu, Cheiro de Amor, and É o Tchan sold over 3.4 million records.

TV broadcasting

The Brazilian Carnival Parades were first broadcast in the late 1960s on television on Rede Globo, which brought the Rio celebrations live, bringing the celebrations to more people all over the nation. By the 1970s, color broadcasting and satellite transmissions made the broadcasts to be beamed to other parts of the nation in real time, by then featuring the top schools under, since 1984 the Liga Independente das Escolas de Samba do Rio de Janeiro - also known as the Special Group (since 1990), and formerly under the Associação das Escolas de Samba da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro. Now defunct, Rede Manchete broadcast the event on several occasions and mounted a joint broadcast with Globo for the 1987 event.

Since 1991, Globo's broadcast of the parades, now dubbed Globeleza, at the Sambodrome in Rio and São Paulo have become the center of national and international attention. Until 2017, fans of the samba schools on parade also expected to watch a short preview of the performances of the schools involved to be broadcast during the duration of the event. By 2018 lyric video style adverts appeared in their place, complete with the colours of the competing schools in attendance, featuring the lyrics of the songs to be performed by the schools.

Globo acquired also the rights to air the parade of samba schools of São Paulo in 1990, and victory parades there were later aired in other local TV channels. Parades belonging to the Access Group (5th Division) and the B Series schools in Rio were also broadcast on several TV stations and are still the case today (in 2015 Rede Record and NGT aired the parades of the lower level schools). Since 2014, Globo also has full rights to the A Series (Rio) and Paulista parades, which were co-shared with the Viva Channel before its closure in 2015 (which aired lower-level parades and the victory parades of the two cities' winning schools for the year) and regionally, RBS airs the Carnivals of Florianopólis and Porto Alegre, and since 2015, cable channel TVCOM display the gaucho parades in the south. The Rio parade can also be heard on radio and seen via online streaming as well (thru TVG Rio and from 2015 in G1, which offers an online live streaming of the victory parade).

The Carnivals of Recife and Salvador are shown by Band since the early 2000s, and Band also holds broadcast rights for the victory parade. Both fall under the Band Folia brand. This is also the case for SBT which also broadcasts the events under the SBT Folia banner and is also, since recently, seen via live streaming on YouTube. Since 2008, Globo also has its own broadcast team and crew for the broadcasts of the late night Galo da Madrugada in Recife.

Twinning

• Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain; Since 1984, Rio de Janeiro is twinned with the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife for the special link between the Carnival of Rio and the Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.