Get ready for the masks, the samba music, and all the festivities that make the Carnival Festival so famous in Brazil. Carnival or Carnaval in Portuguese is celebrated in many Catholic countries in South America and Europe. But the Carnival festival in Rio is the highlight of them all.
Carnival is a four day celebration to give a farewell to the time of celebration prior to the beginning of the season of lent. It is basically a four day period of fun before the traditional fast of lent. The term Carnival comes from carnelevare which means “remove meat”. Traditionally during lent you cannot eat meat and poultry products on Friday’s and you must give up one thing that is important to you like drinking coffee for 40 days. So before you get ready for that the Carnival festival gives you a little over indulgence.
Prior to the actual festival there are several carnival balls which are very famous and extravagant. The festival consists of lots of parades with exotic costumes in the traditional gold, purple, and green colors. The parades are lead by the Samba schools and watched by the millions of citizens and tourists that come for the celebration. The schools actual compete to participate in the annual Carnival festival. The parades are generally televised and broadcast internationally as well. View full article »
