Carnival in Brazil

GA Day 69 (Feb 10, 2024) Very early in the planning days of my great adventure, I had been advised that my stay would coincide with Brazil's carnival, an annual festival that leads up to the start of Lent. Carnival (or carnaval), is derived from carnelevare meaning to remove meat that was a traditional abstinence during the Lent period. While the origins were religious, carnival has turned into a celebrated time of fun, frivolity, and a non-stop party over five days or so; much of the country shuts down to samba, sing, eat, and drink during a series of pageants, "parades", and street parties. My formal itinerary for this trip was literally blocked off for this entire period of time as the university closed down. As a part of my experience here, I decided that a little homework and a lot of fieldwork was necessary to learn about (and participate in) carnival.

My initial indoctrination with this high holiday of Brazil started with pre-carnival in Santos Antonio over a few weekends and I blogged about this experience earlier. However, that was just a sample of what I would experience on my first full day of carnival since the scale completely exploded as if suddenly given a massive dose of steroids. Fortunately, I would get to share this spectacular event with two fellow Canadians, Tracy and Norm, who were every bit novitiates like me. Armed with rhinestone face adornments, festive leis, and SPF sunblock we were off to live the experience in the city centre.

As keeners, we decided on an early start having already learned two things in Brazil. First, it is helpful to get a lay of the land and to be familiar with the area. The second is that rarely does anything start on time here; although we would not be late for anything for fear of missing out on something, there is much to be said for being early to get a feel for the atmosphere and initial vibes. Tracy and I compared this to our days of nursing practice where both of us, as it turns out, would intentionally be at work well before a shift started just to get a sense of the unit and environment. Often one would pick up on subtle things that helped gauge how the day would go; things you would never pick up during shift report.

Our first quest was to go check out the facility with the catwalk where the "parade" is held. The carnival parade here is not at all like parades we have in Canada - it literally is one samba school at a time performing down a catwalk in an enclosed stadium area specifically designed for this purpose. Each samba school has a series of marching units (dancers, drummers, band, float, and so forth) that are choreographed around a theme. Most are well-sponsored to produce elaborate and colourful floats and costumes that are judged throughout carnival with one school being declared champion. We skirted the perimeter of the catwalk facility to get a glimpse of the floats being assembled. Partly because navigating the ticket system in Portuguese was challenging and partly because it is so hot at this time of year (it was already +32C by noon), we opted not to purchase tickets along the catwalk. We were advised that it might be better to wait for the parade of the grand champion on Tuesday. We shall see...

After a brief reconnaissance of the centro area of Florianopolis, we took our first hydration break and had lunch at the public market. The crowds were sparse on the street but the central part of the public market, which is essentially an enormous food court, was packed. There was a live performance of a small band playing one of the many forms of samba, an incredibly tall full-bodied drag queen, and a lot of people having a grand time. By the time we got back to the main city square in front of the cathedral, the number of people was steadily increasing. And we were about to learn what is truly the essence of carnival - the Blocos de Rua..."Street Blocks" or, in our vernacular, a street party.

The theme of the particular street party we were to experience was Blocos dos Sujos that has been a thing for 40 years and, to my perception, the intersection of Halloween and a Pride festival. Apparently, the traditional costumes for Blocos dos Sujos is men dressing up as women and women dressing up as men but the costumes ran the gamut from Mario Brothers and convicts to both refined and rough drag. Two very common themes of costumes were angels and devils - there were more wings, halos, and horns than you could shake a devil's pitchfork at! We even saw Jesus having a problematic costume malfunction. That this should all be starting on the steps of the cathedral seemed so poetic...and, I am sure, not a coincidence.

As the afternoon progressed, the revelers kept pouring into the surrounding streets covering about 20 square city blocks. DJs were either on designated stages or circulated from one area to another on mobile platforms. Both non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks were available from business vendors and pop-up stands, as were food, trinkets, and party regalia. The well-seasoned revelers brought huge coolers filled with their own choice of bebidas; the basic rule for consumption of alcohol was not to take it into businesses or specific cordoned areas and not to provide it to people under 18 years of age. .

It truly was a fun and energized atmosphere where people genuinely let loose without fear of judgment. And while we were warned to be alert for potential pick-pockets, some who (apparently) operate in swarms, there was not a time I ever felt unsafe. There was a visible presence of both municipal and military police but there was no obvious issues that surfaced in the six or so hours we were there - in fact, I would say that compared to all the Pride parades and celebrations I have been to, this would count as one of the most calm and relaxed gatherings I have ever experienced. There was no raucous and disorderly conduct given the free-flowing alcohol and no protesters were evident. The other factor, an extremely hot day at about 32 - 33C (plus humidity), did nothing to impede the celebration. Sources told me that it was typical for rain to happen during carnival but, aside from a few dark clouds in the distance, not a drop fell.

One thing we did notice, especially at the start of the afternoon, was that we seemed to be the most senior people on the street. It was truly amazing to see how many young people were out at this time of day and, particularly, those with families in tow. The demographics did change as the day progressed and as people started to migrate over from the samba school performances at the catwalk. As young at heart as we were, we opted to leave about 6 p.m. as the heat, walking, and intense energy sapped our reserves. And still people continued to arrive from all directions coming ready to party.

We had two very memorable interactions with people over the course of the day. The first was with an engaged couple and their best man who had set up a beverage stand to raise money for their upcoming wedding. It was a chance encounter where we were in need of hydration and we picked their station (really just a few huge coolers on wheels) out of literally scores of similar vendors. It was one of the most heartwarming exchanges imaginable and I was so impressed with their positive energy and entrepreneurial spirit. The second was a purely random situation where a young woman noticed the temporary parrot tattoo I had on my arm and thought it was real. This led to a lengthy discussion starting with tattoo art and then to her and her partner's interest in filmography; they had been looking at the possibility of doing studies in Vancouver, Calgary, or Toronto. This capped a perfect day and my first experience of Brazil's carnival tradition. There are still a couple days left, though, so will see what other experiences lie ahead.