Carnival is a traditional popular festival held in different parts of the world, and is most celebrated in Brazil. Despite the strong secularism present in Carnival, the festival is traditionally linked to Catholicism, since its celebration precedes Lent, a period of 40 days before Easter characterized by fasting.

Meaning of the word "Carnival"

Carnival is not a Brazilian invention; its origins date back to antiquity. The word carnival comes from the Latin carnis levale, which means "to remove the flesh". This meaning is related to the fasting that should be carried out during Lent and also to the control of worldly pleasures. This demonstrates an attempt by the Catholic Church to control the desires of the faithful.

How to calculate the date of Carnival?

Every year, the days of revelry change. The count of days to set the date for Carnival each year begins with Easter. Easter, in turn, depends on the equinox.

Equinoxes occur twice a year, when day and night are exactly the same length: 12 hours each. It first occurs around March 20th of each year. In the Southern Hemisphere, it is the fall equinox, and in the Northern Hemisphere, the spring equinox. In September, it occurs again between the 22nd and 23rd, reversing the season in each hemisphere.

The Catholic Church determined that every year Easter would be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon of the March equinox.

Seven days before Easter, the Catholic Church celebrates Palm Sunday, which begins Holy Week. And exactly 40 days before Palm Sunday is Shrove Tuesday. In other words, Carnival is celebrated 47 days before Easter.
 

When is Carnival this year?

In 2025, Carnival will take place on March 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, covering the period from Saturday (1) to Ash Wednesday (5).

It's worth noting that although Carnival has undergone significant changes following the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2025 edition promises to bring novelties and a new energy to the festival.

History of Carnival

With the emergence of agriculture in Greece in 600 BC, people began to celebrate the fertility and productivity of the soil. The pagan carnival began when the cult of Dionysus became official in Greece in the 7th century BC and ended when the Catholic Church adopted the festival in 590 AD. The first focus of carnival concentration was in Egypt.

The festival was nothing more than dancing and singing around bonfires. The revellers wore masks and disguises symbolizing the absence of social classes. The tradition then spread to Greece and Rome, between the 7th century B.C. and the 6th century A.D. Later, Carnival arrived in Venice and then spread all over the world. It is said that it was there that the festival took on its current characteristics: masks, costumes, floats and parades.

Christian carnival came into existence when the Catholic Church made it official. Before, the Church condemned the event for its sinful nature. However, the ecclesiastical authorities of the time found themselves at a dead end, coming to the conclusion that they could not ban a popular festival like Carnival.

The origin of carnival

In Babylon, two festivals possibly gave rise to what we know as carnival. The sacbeans were a celebration in which a prisoner took on the role of the king for a few days, dressing like him, eating the same food and sleeping with his wives. At the end, the prisoner was whipped and then hanged or impaled.

Another rite was performed by the king near the spring equinox, a time to celebrate the Mesopotamian new year. The ritual took place at the temple of Marduk (one of the first Mesopotamian gods), where the king lost his emblems of power and was beaten in front of the statue of Marduk. This humiliation served to demonstrate the king's submission to the deity. He would then take the throne again.

What was common to both festivals, and which is linked to carnival, was the subversion of social roles: the temporary transformation of the prisoner into a king and the humiliation of the king in front of his God. Possibly the subversion of social roles at Carnival, such as men dressing up as women and other similar practices, is associated with this Mesopotamian tradition.

The association between carnival and orgies may be related to festivals of Greco-Roman origin, such as the bacchanals (Dionysian festivals for the Greeks). They were dedicated to the God of wine, Bacchus (or Dionysus, for the Greeks), marked by drunkenness and the indulgence of the pleasures of the flesh.

The logic that governed the festivals of antiquity was the same for Carnival in Europe in the Middle and Modern Ages: the world upside down. As such, it was a period of proportional inversion of order, so the restrictions on people's lives were abolished and the roles that existed in that society were inverted.

Carnival in Brazil

The origin of Carnival in Brazil dates back to the colonial period. At the time, there was a Portuguese game called entrudo. This was one of the first carnival events in the country. Entrudo was a game in which enslaved people took to the streets throwing water, flour, sprinkles, lemon, ink, coffee, mud and even urine at each other. This practice also preceded the period of Lent and had the same purpose: the possibility of setting people free. As the game was considered violent and offensive by the Brazilian elite, entrudo was banned in 1841, but the practice continued until the middle of the 20th century.

Although the upper classes of the time despised the popular game, they also wanted new ways to celebrate Carnival. That's when masked balls began to emerge, which usually took place in halls and theaters. But the party soon took to the streets. Street parades began to appear, aimed at the lower classes. From then on, ranchos, corsos and samba schools emerged.

In a more recent period, the tradition gained frevos, afoxés, maracatus, marchinhas and every day, other musical genres are incorporated into Brazil's carnival. In some cities, street carnival still retains elements of entrudo.

In Salvador, "water wars" are very common in some blocos. The first record of a carnival ball in Brazil dates back to 1840. And in 1855 the big carnival clubs emerged, the forerunners of today's samba schools.

Curiosities about Carnival

Carnival songs​

Carnival marchinhas became popular at the end of the 19th century and reached their peak between the 1920s and 1960s, with compositions such as Chiquinha Gonzaga's "Abre Alas" from 1899 and Dalva de Oliveira's "Bandeira Branca" from 1970.

At the beginning of the 20th century, there were already several cordões and blocos, which paraded through the streets and cities of Brazil during Carnival. In 1928, the first samba school, "Deixa Falar", was founded in the Rio de Janeiro neighborhood of Estácio, which led to the emergence of other samba schools that came to brighten up the great popular festival.

The traditional samba school parades at the Marquês de Sapucaí Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro have become the highlight of Carnival and are broadcast all over the world.

Carnival in the different regions of Brazil

SOUTHERN REGION

Carnival in the South, especially in Florianópolis, mixes several elements, with samba school parades, clubs and street blocks. In some complexes there are parties with national and international DJs. In the city center, the Nego Quirido catwalk features a parade of the region's samba schools.

SOUTHEAST

The celebrations in the Southeast are very similar to those in the South.  In the capitals São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, we have the parades of the country's most famous samba schools, which are also broadcast on television in the Anhembi and Marquês de Sapucaí Sambadrome. In most cities in the region, street parades take place. Some clubs in inland towns also have private parties, with lots of music, samba and carnival marches.

WEST CENTRE

One of the most traditional carnivals in the Midwest takes place in Goiás. The program includes marchinhas to cheer up the revellers and shows by various bands of different genres, which take place in the town squares. The region also has samba school parades.

NORTHEAST

The Northeast has a variety of celebrations. In Bahia, for example, we have the famous trio-elétricos, where some of Brazil's most famous artists perform. It's the famous street carnival, accompanied by revelers. More than 150 organized blocks and around 2 million people pass through this circuit during the party days.

Still in the Northeast, there's the carnival in Olinda and Recife, where frevo and maracatu reign supreme during the celebrations. There are several blocks, but the most striking feature of the Olinda carnival are the traditional giant dolls, which are so characteristic of the city.

NORTH

The festivities in the North are closely linked to folklore. In Manaus, for example, the Festa do Boi (boi-bumbá) takes place in conjunction with the city's anniversary celebrations and lasts for three consecutive days. The festival brings around 200,000 people to the city's Sambódromo. The public dances to the sound of traditional music, wearing tururis (abadás), following the electric trios, with samba schools with indigenous-influenced music, who dance to impressive choreography.

Carnival and the economy

Carnival is not just a good holiday for traveling free from the stress of work and the responsibilities of everyday life. The period is also one of the most impactful in Brazil, responsible for moving much of the economy in sectors such as tourism and business, positively influencing the country's general economic scenario for the rest of the year.

The period's turnover represents 3% of the total generated annually by the travel and tourism industry. The majority of foreign visitors come from countries such as Argentina, the United States, Paraguay, Chile, Uruguay, France and Germany.

As the figures show, the production chain of a carnival is somewhat complex and involves different sectors of the economy. From the moment the first samba school opens the parades at the Marquês de Sapucaí, for example, the carnival has already influenced industrial activity, the day-to-day life of the clubs and parallel activities that suffer indirect effects from the festival, such as the food and drink sector, tourism and the music market.

With the health emergency caused by Covid-19 over the last five years, the carnival industry has suffered huge financial losses. The impact ranges from the drop in revenue to the impact on the lives of workers in the extensive chain that involves the entire carnival economy.