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Carnival
The greatest event of all in Brazil is Carnival! As in other parts of the world, “Fat Tuesday” or Mardi Gras falls on the day before Ash Wednesday, but Brazilians will be celebrating for many days before that! Millions of revelers unleash their inhibitions and party non-stop as the contagious Carnival spirit affects everyone from near and far who is in Rio during Carnival. Carnival falls on different dates each year. To plan your trip, click HERE for a calendar showing the dates of Carnival until the year 2020! Gay Travel Brazil's Member Companies can help you plan your trip and experience the very best of Carnival with uniquely designed and affordable travel packages. The most famous Carnival is in Rio de Janeiro, but great Carnivals take place the length and breadth of Brazil. From South to North, some of the best celebrations are in Florianópolis, Salvador, Recife and Olinda. There are festivities, too, in cities like Porto Alegre and São Paulo, with parades, street parties, music and millions of revellers throughout Brazil! Can't make it for Carnival? There are even out-of-season carnivals for those who just can't wait a whole year for the next Carnival to roll around! Festa de São João Most of Brazil celebrates the Festas Juninas, the June feast days of saints widely venerated in Brazil, culminating in the feast of St. John the Baptist. Especially popular in the Northeast and in rural areas. The Festas Juninas are opportunities to dress up as country folk, enjoy traditional foods, and dance to popular country rhythms like forró. The biggest blow-out for the Festas Juninas happens in Campina Grande, the second city of the state of Paraíba in Brazil's Northeast. For the entire month, hundreds of thousands come to party and celebrate. The festivities in Campina Grande are rivaled by those in Caruaru, in the interior of Pernambuco, which is considered to be the home of forró music. Hundreds of thousands flock there, too, from the end of May throughout the month of June! Festival Folclórico de Parintins Throughout northern Brazil, June is the month to celebrate the festival of Boi-Bumbá, one of Brazil's oldest folk legends involving a mythical bull and its miraculous resurrection! The epicenter of the festivities is in Parantins, a city on the shores of the Amazon River, where thousands gather to watch the elaborately choreographed ritual combat and dances between two famous festival groups, Caprichoso and Garantido, with unique music and rhythms particularly associated with the Boi-Bumbá festival. Círio de Nazaré For two weeks in October, the equatorial city of Belém becomes the scene of this great religious pilgrimage and festival. A million and half people jam the city to participate in the processions and have a good time while they're at it! Marafolia This out-of-season carnival takes over the fascinating city of São Luis, Maranhão as some 600,000 revelers take over the streets in mid-October! Vital Mid-November is the turn of Vitória to go wild! The state capital of Espírito Santo is an hour's flight north of Rio, with a handsome natural setting and many beaches. Reveillon New Year's Eve is a huge event in Brazil, rivalled only by Carnival. Particularly in cities along the coastline, millions gather on the beaches to watch spectacular fireworks displays and party 'til the first dawn of the New Year. The largest and most famous celebration takes place on Copacabana Beach, where followers of Afro-Brazilian religions arrive early to set up altars and offerings to Iemanjá, the goddess of the sea, followed by fireworks and musical shows. Similar events happen on other Rio beaches and up and down Brazil's immense coastline. Carnatal Carnival fever strikes Natal in mid-January! Located at Brazil's northeastern tip, Natal has emerged as one of Brazil's most popular beach getaways, with year-round sun and fun! Feast of Iemanjá On February 2, millions line the shore and beaches of Salvador to celebrate the feast-day of Iemanjá, the African goddess of the sea! Boat processions, parties and more! Holidays and Special Events Second Sunday in May MOTHER'S DAY Mother's Day is celebrated on the same day as the U.S. - Many shops will be closed and restaurants will be crowded September 7 INDEPENDENCE DAY Brazilian Holiday - Banks and official services will be closed October 12 OUR LADY OF APARECIDA Feast day of Brazil's patron saint. Banks, shops and official services may be closed. October 31 HALLOWE'EN/FESTA DAS BRUXAS Not a traditional Brazilian holiday, but increasingly celebrated, especially by gay bars and saunas. This is Brazil, after all, and it's another excuse to party and wear costumes! November 1 ALL SAINTS DAY Brazilian Holiday - Some banks, shops and official services may be closed November 2 ALL SOULS DAY Brazil's Memorial Day - Some banks, shops and official services may be closed November 15 PROCLAMATION OF THE THE REPUBLIC Brazilian Holiday - Banks, some shops and official services closed Late November AMERICAN THANKSGIVING (4th Thursday) Watch our forums for information to see if we’ll be having a gay Thanksgiving celebration at the Marriott in Rio. We know Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving in October, but feel free to join us for a repeat on the turkey! December 8 IMMACULATE CONCEPTION Brazilian Holiday - Some banks, shops and official services may be closed December 25 CHRISTMAS Many shops will close early on Christmas Eve. December 31 REVEILLON - NEW YEAR'S EVE Spectacular celebration of the beginning of the New Year, with fireworks, shows and millions of partiers. The real beginning of Brazil's summer and the tourist high season. January 1 NEW YEAR'S DAY Brazilian Holiday - Some banks, shops and official services may be closed on Monday, since the holiday falls on a Sunday this year. January 6 THREE KINGS DAY/EPIPHANY The traditional day for holiday gift giving in Latin countries - less observed these days, when gifts are more commonly exchanged at Christmas February or March CARNAVAL - (FAT TUESDAY) In Rio the partying begins immediately after New Year and builds to its peak beginning the Friday before Carnaval. The two main Carnaval parades are Sunday and Monday nights. The party is officially over on Ash Wednesday, but the momentum keeps the festivities going (on a reduced scale) until the weekend, when the Parade of Champions takes place, featuring the top samba schools from the year's competition. The party is really over after that. It's time to start planning next year's Carnival! Theater/Music/Art/Film There are active and thriving theater, music, art and film scenes in Rio, São Paulo and other large Brazilian cities. Play runs are often short. In São Paulo, there’s usually a well-known Broadway musical running, translated into Portuguese, which can be enormous fun to see! Recent shows have included "Chicago" and "Phantom of the Opera." Opera, symphony and ballet performances take place in most of the big cities, often in magnificent old European-style opera houses and concert halls, like the Municipal Theaters in Rio and São Paulo, the splendid Sala São Paulo concert hall, or the legendary Teatro Amazonas in Manaus. Performances by Brazil’s best-known popular music artists take place at show houses like Rio’s “Canecão” (next to the RioSul shopping mall). Art exhibits can be found at numerous museums and galleries. Rio and São Paulo are great film towns, with films from around the world and Brazil’s own busy film industry on screen. Foreign films are usually shown in the original language, with Portuguese subtitles. In Rio, tickets for many events can be purchased at the cashier's counter in the entrance of the "Modern Sound" music store, at R. Barata Ribeiro, 502 (near the corner of R. Santa Clara). In São Paulo similar services can be found at FNAC bookstores, like the one at Av. Paulista, 901 (betw. Trianon-MASP and Brigadeiro Metrô stations). For up-to-date information about what’s happening during your stay in Brazil, check the entertainment sections of the local newspapers. On Fridays, the major metropolitan dailies publish very useful pull-out entertainment supplements with programming for the upcoming week. They’re easy to use, even if you don’t understand Portuguese well. Similar supplements are published on Sunday accompanying the Rio and São Paulo editions of "Veja." It's unusual for shows to sell out long in advance; for most shows it's possible to buy tickets up to the date of the performance. You can also click on the following links for more information about some main venues (you may need some help from a Portuguese speaking friend if you’re really language-challenged!): Theatro Municipal (Rio): http://www.theatromunicipal.rj.gov.br (Click on Programação for schedules.) Theatro Municipal (São Paulo): http://portal.prefeitura.sp.gov.br/secretarias/cultura/theatromunicipal (Click on Programação for schedules.) OSESP (Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo): http://www.osesp.art.br (Click on "Pular Introdução" to skip the site intro. Then click on Temporada e Ingressos for schedules and ticketing.) Centro Cultural do Banco do Brasil (CC BB): http://www.bb.com.br/appbb/portal/bb/ctr/rj/index.jsp (Click on city interested in.) Cancecão (Rio): http://www.canecao.com.br (Click on Programação for schedules.) Museu de Arte Moderno - Rio http://www.mamrio.com.br Instituto Moreira Salles: http://www.ims.com.br (Click on the city you’re interested in.) |
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