Carnaval Rio 2013

The 2013 carnival Rio may have just ended and for those present it is always an experience to think back on for years to come, for those who have not yet experienced the Rio de Janeiro Carnival, but are thinking about joining in next year, here is a short description of what you might expect to find.

The Carnaval Rio de Janeiro starts on the Saturday before Shrove Tuesday and ends and culminates Shrove Tuesday, however those four days are filled with an earnest celebration of human life.

During the celebration, Indian costumes and African beats create a particular mélange of energy which celebrates the indigenous identity of the former Portuguese colony.

The carnival is much bigger than the four days that is spans, it is so much bigger, the anticipation starting to build up for months before the Saturday that it kicks off, with all manner of preparations going on, from dance training and choreography to music practice and costume creation.

One of the key features of the Rio Carnival is the Brazilian bandas – basically roaming street parties that are guided by drummers and singers, which in turn are tailed by whoever wants to dance behind them, but it’s not that simple. There are some bandas that will require you to either wear particular colours, or demand some form of fancy dress, while others will just sell you a t-shirt with their colors and welcome you along for the party. Regardless of the particularities of the banda that you follow, they will all lead to the heart of the Carnaval.

At the same time there are also many Carnaval balls, which are glitzy, glamorous, outlandish and erotic at the same time, but the undisputed climax of the Carnaval is the samba parade.

Talking about what the Sambodromo becomes and means could easily fill more than just one article, so we’re going to save on that for a future one.

Keep some Brazil car rental services in mind when planning to visit Rio de Janeiro.