Salvador: Carnival

The most traditional celebration in Brazil is the world famous Carnival. Lasting for four nights and three days the masses congregate over the streets and squares, in celebration of the country’s diverse cultural backgrounds.

Followers of the Catholic religion started the tradition of holding a wild costume festival the night before the first day of Lent. Because Catholics don't eat meat during Lent, they called their festival, carnevale — which means “to put away the meat.” As time passed, carnivals became quite famous; and the practice spread.

Carnival has been greatly influenced by Brazil's important African traditions of parading through villages dressed in costumes and masks. Circling villages is believed to bring good fortune, to heal the sick, and to amend relationships with angry relatives who had passed onto the next world. Carnival has also borrowed from the African tradition of the bringing together of objects (beads, shells, fabric, leaves, feathers) to represent a significant idea or spiritual force.

Carnival, usually held in February or March, starts on a Thursday night and continues until the following Monday. Everything, but everything, goes during these four days. In recent years, Carnival has revolved around the trios elétricos. The trios play a distinctively upbeat music from the tops of trucks that slowly wind their way through the main Carnival areas (Praça Castro Alves, Campo Grande and Barra). Surrounding the trios is a sea of dancing, drinking revelers.

Carnival brings many tourists and revenue to Salvador that there's been an inevitable tendency towards commercialization, although the trend here is still many years behind that in Rio. Fortunately, local residents have given a greater say in the arrangements of Salvador's Carnival. A more authentic festival has decentralized the events, creating a more free flowing expression and spontaneity in the cities celebration.

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