Rio Carnival
The Carnival in Rio de Janeiro (Portuguese carnaval do Rio carnaval carioca or ) officially begins on the Friday before Ash Wednesday and is one of the main attractions of the city. The multi-colored parade of samba schools is one of the largest festivals in the world.
Organization and Samba Schools
The carnival is organized by the tourist office of the city in co-operation with the League of Samba Schools League Independente the escola de samba do Rio de Janeiro ( LIESA ). But also on television broadcaster usually speak with a word.
Each Escola de Samba annually elects a specific theme, the floats are decorated accordingly then, and coordinated the costumes on it. After details of how rhythm, choreography, presentation, interaction of the group, etc. are coordinated. Most of the splendidly costumed kings, queens, princesses and Baianas ( in the wide, white Bahian costumes women) have been working all year on hard to be able to afford the costumes can they wear here for only a few hours.
Increasing every year a school - are all, like football, divided into four leagues - with the best score from the first division in the Grupo Especial on. For the winners of the Grupo Especial there is a cash prize, but more importantly the honor to be a member of a winning school in this group.
Order and evaluate
The order of the parades of the Grupo Especial is determined by lot, it occurred on Carnival Sunday and Monday each 6 samba schools. Each of these escolas occurs with 3000 to 5000 participants, divided into up to 40 groups of 5 to 8 Festzugswagen ( which may be drawn from safety, only by hand) that each get exactly 120 minutes for their parade ( change from 2009). Exceeding but also an undershoot of this time limit it will cost you valuable points.
Among others, the rhythmic precision of the drummers, the way, are matched in the song, drum and dance, the artistic interpretation of the theme, the presentation of the flag bearer ( porta be rated " estandarte that precedes traditionally associated with the mestre sala each train, the author ) and the ' master of Ceremonies ' ( mestre sala ) and the unity of the performance of the overall escola " ( Tiago de Oliveira Pinto and Dudu Tucci: Samba and Sambistas in Brazil, Wilhelmshaven 1992, page 36).
The stands of the built in just 120 days after plans by Oscar Niemeyer in 1984 Sambódromo Estácio district of 88,500 spectators place. The parades begin in the 700 -meter arena each clock by 21 and take about 10 hours per day of celebration. This means that the last parade is already carried out in the light of the following morning.
On Ash Wednesday around noon then finds the points counting (40 judges, 4 each for the 10 rating categories) instead, which will be broadcast live to TV channels across the country. The victory celebration is celebrated like a World Cup with fireworks and festivals joy of Escola de Samba victorious due. Even those who came in second or third place gets money into the club treasury.
The preparation
The carnival preparations for the next year are already starting immediately after the annual parade and take in every club thousands of members as professional staff to complete. The high production costs are borne by the private sponsors: Your personal costumes that must be purchased from any carrier, the individual participants in the parades save but literally from the mouth.
A small carnival museum within the Sambódromo, which can be visited throughout the year, with its English-speaking staff offers a great way to tradition and details of the Carnival of Rio to better understand.
Also very well known and perhaps musically diversified the carnival in Salvador da Bahia, which is considered the largest street carnival in the world, and in Recife.