It’s that time of year again when one city goes crazy and the whole world watches – the Rio Carnaval! Over the next week photos of all but(t) naked big breasted mulatas shaking their tail feathers, giant fire breathing floats adorned with writhing Adonises in gold body paint, and outlandish Fruit-bowl-hatted drag queens will plaster Brazil’s and the world’s media.
For the foreign visitor (of which millions come year after year) the appeal is clear, but it can be difficult to really understand what it’s all about and even more so to know how to get right to the heart of the action. Luxury travel gurus Dehouche have been based in Rio for the past 7 years, and although they often steer the more faint-hearted away from the city at this time of year, if Carnaval’s what you want, look no further. Here is their potted guide to the festivities:
Firstly it’s worth mentioning (then forgetting) the Carnaval balls or ‘bailes’, these are the only remnants of the festivities which really hark back to the European origins of the festival (think Venice’s grand masked balls). They are now little more than tacky, overpriced parties although some do have a specific appeal i.e. Scala Gay, perhaps the biggest gay party in the world, or the Copacabana Palace which hosts the oldest and most traditional ball every year.
The exported face of the Rio carnaval is the competition between the different Escolas de Samba (multi million pound samba institutions mainly based in favelas around the city). This is where you see the processions of floats, elaborate fancy dress, hundred strong massed drumming bands and those famous mulatas. The main competition happens on the Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights of Carnaval, and the ‘premier league’ of the Samba Schools, the best known three being Mangueira, Salgueiro and Beija Flor, always parade on the Sunday and Monday. Tickets are expensive, starting at around $250 for the standard ‘seats’ which buys you the right to cram yourself onto a concrete stadium with a thousand other sweaty Brazilians. $2000 plus and you can be in one of the VIP hospitality boxes drinking Moet Chandon and rubbing shoulders with telenovela stars. The atmosphere is indescribable, somewhere between the world cup final, the circus and the loudest concert you’ve ever been to, and for the first time visitor a trip to the ‘Sambadrome’ is a must. If you really want to get involved Dehouche can arrange for you to have your own costume and actually take part in the parade with one of the top schools.
Most people’s main experience of carnaval in Rio will be the street carnaval, or ‘Carnaval da Rua’ which is the part of the Rio carnaval that has most grown in popularity over recent years and is based around hundreds of different ‘blocos’. The basic premise is a band (samba drums plus brass in the more traditional; lorry with loud speakers in the more modern incarnation), a time and a place to meet in the city, a route to follow, and lots of beer / cachaça / caipirinha ice lollies along the way. Generally the more popular the bloco the earlier the council makes the start time (some are as early as 6am this year) - to discourage mass drunkenness as much as humanly possible and to be able to clear the roads for traffic at some point before midnight.
Some of the more popular blocos can have crowds of up to 40,000 people and the popularity of this part of the celebrations hasn’t escaped the shrewder Carnaval comercialisers - this year for the first time the whole of the ‘Carnaval da Rua’, once a casual impromptu affair, has been sponsored by a national beer brand. There are some very traditional ‘blocos’ and always some new ones which change in popularity from year to year. Dehouche provide their clients with a list of all their favourites, along with suggested fancy dress – very much the order of the day in the street too, all be it more of a DIY version. Just grab a can of Antartica and get stuck in!
Let Dehouche arrange your luxury boutique hotel and enjoy a whole host of insider tips on where to truly escape from it all on your honeymoon.
Dehouche S.A.,
Leblon,
Rio de Janeiro ,
Brazil.
www.dehouche.com
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