The best things about Rio Carnival 2012
OK, I don’t want to overdo this whole carnival thing – my last non-carnival related post was more than 10 days ago! But can you stand just one more post on the subject? I’ve been looking over my carnival photos and thinking back over the event as a whole and I thought it might be nice to summarise what made this year’s carnival so great.
The Weather
OK, I’m British and therefore more than a little obsessed with the weather, but for me this made a real difference. Last year it rained quite a bit and although I told myself at the time that it was good because it stopped us all getting overheated, I never really believed it in my heart of hearts. This year we had unbroken sunshine all the way through, and you could really sense the lift it gave everyone.
Dancing, drinking, chatting to strangers and generally getting down. It just works better when the sun is out.
This woman wasn’t trying to tell us to move on – she was helping out! She just pointed the house out onto the street and people queued up for some full-in-the-face refreshment…
Ahhhh yes!
Sacolé
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the average Brazilian beer is pretty terrible. When the weather is really hot and the beer is really cold then it’s not so bad, but after 2 or 3 cans you start to yearn for something else, something with some flavour, something with a little punch! That’s when these little beauties come to the rescue:
Despite appearances, this has nothing to do with animal husbandry. In fact this is a frozen caipirinha! Packed full of flavour (and a fair amount of booze), these things make a welcome alternative to the endless cans of Antartica and Skol.
Sacolés don’t just come in caipirinha flavour either – there were some really interesting and fruity mixes:
Pineapple, mint and cachaça – yes! Passionfruit, ginger and cachaça – yes! Condensed milk and cachaça – noooooo!
The Fantasías (carnival costumes)
There were so many great carnival costumes! Sure, if you actually look through the photos you can usually spot a fair few people who didn’t dress up at all, or who just put on a silly hat, but a lot of people really go to town. A great costume is such a positive thing in carnival – it makes people smile and laugh, strangers will approach you and ask you about it and maybe take a photo or two. The costume can also be a great way to recognise people – there’s something fun about spotting people from a previous bloco or even a previous carnival – “Hey LOOK! It’s the hammerhead shark guy from last year!!”
Here are a few of my favourites from this year:
This guy had the perfect hair for Van Gogh. Nicely done.
This group of skeleton mariachis spooked the hell out of me!
Walking around in a box takes a lot of dedication. Fair play to this guy.
Even the animals were getting into it.
These two were great! Takes some guts to dress up in a naked suit I think – especially when it’s THAT bushy!
Pretty much the best home-made Simpsons outfit I’ve ever seen. Well done freaky Lisa.
The Carnival Spirit
Sorry if this last one is a bit cheesy, but I have to say that the thing that really impressed me this year was the general spirit of the people. It was so good to see such a variety of people mixing, celebrating and drinking without violence, aggression or idiotic behaviour. Maybe there were bad things going on in other blocos, but I didn’t witness one unpleasant scene or angry exchange – not bad for 5 full days of partying!
Sorry for the poor picture quality but I wanted to show you this Mum and Dad with their kid in the middle – I thought it was really sweet how they decided to stick together like this.
And I love the fact that it is totally normal for families to party together here. Back home, the average teenager would be mortified to see their parents or relatives at something like this, but here it seems natural.
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OK, so that is my little summary of the things that made this year’s carnival a great one. Believe it or not there are still a few blocos going on, but I for one have had my fill for this year.
Thanks for clearing the sacole thing up, I was pretty sure you were holding up a used condom for a second…
Write about Carnaval as much as you want! I enjoy every one of these posts. And you’re not being cheesy when you talk about the spirit of the people, even with my semi-limited Brazilian interaction it really is one of the things that most amazes me about the Brazilian people. It really inspires me!
Abracos,
Alex
Oh man, right after reading the post I was going to come here and politely persuade others to adopt a “c’mon, let’s just not go there” policy regarding that sacolé object.
Alas, t’was not meant to be.
Alex!
Alex!! ;) To be fair, something had to be said didn’t it? I was thinking more of those samples that are ‘harvested’ from prize bulls by some creepy farmer… Anyway, let’s all take Gritty’s advice and leave it there shall we? Hee hee!
I had a great carnival, but can you believe there are still more blocos going on today? A planned family walk around Jardim Botanico has had to be rescheduled as apparently there is a bloco right in front on the gardens today. Not the end of the world, but I don’t understand how people can still have an appetite for these things now that the main event is over and done. Guess I’m just getting old…
Why does the farmer have to be creepy?
And are you sure the “farmer” you are talking about isn’t me? I mean, come on. Gritty knows about me and my caipira ways…….
OK sorry I’ll stop now.
The funny thing is that the first thing I saw written, when scrolling down to leave my let’s not go there message, was the name Alex. At that point I didn’t even bother considering how I should phrase my request since an image of a ship in the horizon, slowly drifting away, descended upon me. And behind the helm of said vessel I pictured one Captain Quagmire,
I will take that as a compliment ;-)
You should: Quagmire rules!
That looks so fun!!! The “Carnaval culture” in Salvador is pretty different, people don’t really do the full costume thing. Especially because the blocos have a reserved area for people who pay, and so those people have to be wearing the bloco’s shirt in order to be let in.
Ah yes, I heard about that thing with the cordon for the paying people. Not sure I like the sound of that so much – especially if it means you can’t dress up in something crazy!
Love all the carnival posts! I do find it weird how Brazilians party with their family, Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, you name it. In Canada that would never happen either, and yet it’s so cool. I wonder why the difference?
Funny isn’t it? I don’t know about Canada so much, but in the UK I think family tends to be a bit less close-knit. Between the ages of 14 and 20 I would have done everything I could do get my mum out of the house during a party! What a horrible teenager I was – poor mum! :)
i think its very sweet seeing families together in any situation :)
Anna, I agree :) If I ever become a Dad I will try to persuade my children the same thing! rs
The woman in the “naked” shot is a friend of mine :)
Really? If you see her, tell her I loved her fantasia – very cool! :)
Ooh, I also meant to say, a couple of my ex-colleagues from Abbey Road Studios ‘Liked’ that photo when I pasted it to facebook – there’s a little stamp of approval for ‘John’ and ‘Yoko’ from the people who should know! :)
Awesome! I will tell her!
Wonderful post! Really transports you to Carnaval. My dream is to experience this for myself one day!
Ah thanks! :) I definitely recommend it – Carnaval in Rio is one of those things everyone should do at least once!