Brazil Carnival 2008

Salvador Bahia is a Great Place for Carnival

Carnival in Salvador basically has two parts: the parade of trio elétricos (more about them in a moment), and the barracas. A trio elétrico is a done-up semitrailer, loaded with thousands of watts of sound equipment and with a band playing on top. They parade very slowly along one of two circuits; one closer to the city center, running from Campo Grande (literally “Big Field“, Salvador’s central park) to Praça Castro Alves (named for Antônio Frederico de Castro Alves, the Bahian poet who, among other things, wielded his mighty pen against the injustices of slavery and political oppression) and the other running from Barra to Ondina, along the Atlantic Ocean. They are called “trios” because the first one was an old car (’29 Ford) with a driver and two musicians (Dodô and Osmar) in the back (the car can be seen in the museum at the Lagoa da Abaeté in Itapoan; it debuted in 1950).

The other part of Carnaval is the barracas. They are everywhere, turning Salvador into a city of ten thousand parties. A lot of them have their own sound systems. And where there isn’t a barraca, there’ll be somebody with an isopor (styrofoam cooler) selling beer or batidas (cachaça/fruit mixtures; killer strength).

Carnival Brazil 2008

One of the greatest elements of the Rio Carnival is that it not only provides entertainment for many people around the world but at the same time it gives also a chance to learn about the true culture of Brazil.

It is a euphoric event where people dance, sing, party and have tons of fun. There are many parties that take place before, during and after Carnival all night and all day. It allows someone’s true heart to come out and have as much fun as possible.

Carnival is very significant to the people of Brazil. There are carnival celebrations in virtually every corner of Brazil, the best-known ones taking place in Recife together with the neighboring Olinda (in the North of Brazil) and Salvador. But the biggest and most famous carnival is undoubtedly the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro