RIO CARNIVAL * SONG'S FROM BRAZIL

Although Carnival (Carnaval in Portuguese) is celebrated in towns and villages throughout Brazil and other Catholic countries, Rio de Janeiro has long been regarded as the Carnival Capital of the World. The Rio Carnaval is not only the biggest Carnival, it as also a benchmark against which every other carnival is compared and one of the most interesting artistic events on the Globe. Almost everyone has heard of the Rio Carnaval. Foreign visitors to it alone number around 500,000 every year. Rio Carnival is a wild 4 day celebration, 40 days before Easter. It officially starts on Saturday and finishes on Fat Tuesday with the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday after which one is supposed to abstain from all bodily pleasures. Carnival with all its excesses, celebrated as a profane event, can be considered an act of farewell to the pleasures of the flesh. It usually happens in February, the hottest month in the Southern Hemisphere, when the Rio summer is at its peak. There are...

Brazilian Popular Music Brazilian music comes in as many flavors as the tropical fruit sherbets we mention in the recipes section of our Web site. Don't feel intimidated by the Portuguese words and names you will encounter. Read on and enjoy! Visit our Music & Folklore Page to learn more about the extraordinary diversity of Brazil's music. HistoryMPB, loosely understood as a "style", debuted in the mid-1960s, with the acronym being applied to types of non-electric music that emerged following the advent, ascension and evolution of bossa nova. MPB artists and audiences were largely connected to the intellectual and student population, causing later MPB to be known as "university music" c. 1970. As much as bossa nova, MPB was born out of an attempt to produce a Brazilian "national" music, thus revitalizing traditional styles. MPB made a considerable impact at that time, boosted by several televised music festivals, where the acronym was popu...

Sao Clemente samba school parade on a float during carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro. Mangueira samba school parades during carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Porto da Pedra Samba School. Grande Rio Samba School.   Carnival in Rio de Janeiro Check out the official tourist site of the city of Rio de Janeiro (in English) and visit the Carnival in Rio section. Besides being a popular feast, Carnival in Rio is a show business; people having fun is just part of the business. Most events in Rio's carnival happen either in ball-rooms or in the sambodrome. The Balls Since a few weeks before the official start of Carnival, several clubs promote pre-carnival balls; these are called "bailes pre carnavalescos", in case you want to search the newspapers. These balls happen both in big clubs (like world famous Flamengo) or smaller suburban clubs. Almost always, one must pay to party. T...