The streets of Rio de Janeiro are once again teeming with colorful festivities for this year’s Carnival celebration from February 8 to 12. From the capital city of Rio de Janeiro, to the streets of São Paolo, Recife, Porto Alegre, Sergipe, Manaus and Salvador, the Brazilian Carnival is considered the most important festival of the country.
Brazilian Carnival
There are more than 700 processions featuring performers wearing outrageous head dresses, scantily clad women adorned with sequins and body paint and colorful floats that will parade around the streets of the nation’s capital. The five day festival marks the start of the Lenten Season since it culminates on Fat Tuesday, the day right before Ash Wednesday.
The celebration kicked off with the city’s mayor Eduardo Paes handing over a symbolic key of the city to King Momo.
Famous faces seen
Some of the biggest names in Brazilian pop culture are part of the festivities such as Claudia Leitte, Daniela Mercury and Gilberto Gil. At the same time, some of the most famous personalities in the world either performed or were sighted, such as Korean pop performer Psy, who performed his phenomenal hit “Gangnam Style,” Hollywood superstar Will Smith, reality TV star Kim Kardashian and rapstar boyfriend Kanye West, and Italian beauty Monica Belluci and husband French actor Vincent Cassel. Transformers star and endorser of Brazilian beer brand Brahma Beer, Megan Fox, is also present.
Korean tribute
It’s not surprising the Korean popstar Psy was present. Part of the festivities of this year is paying tribute to the Korean community of the country. Korean immigration to Brazil is on its 50th year and immigrants now number about 50,000.
Samba schools participate
This year, twelve of the country’s top samba schools are vying for the top accolade of being Carnival champion. The various performances and parades will be witnessed by six million people, about 15% of whom are tourists from different parts of the globe.
Road test
This year’s carnival celebration also serves as a litmus test for Brazil since the country is set to host a number of significant world events in the coming years. In 2014, Brazil will be the host of the World Cup, as well as the Summer Olympics in 2016.
Economic boom
Carnival isn’t just a glimpse of the Brazilian culture. It is also one of the biggest revenue generators of the economy. More than a million tourists will participate in this year’s celebrations, which will bring in over $650 million in local revenues. It’s the time of year wherein 70% of the country’s tourists arrive. At the same time, 80% of the country’s beer consumption is also consumed during the five days of Carnival.
For next year, Carnival 2014 is set on February 28 to March 4.
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