Carnaval (or, as we like to write it, Carnival) was last week, but we’re just not done celebrating here at Gadling HQ. This video is from Carnaval 2011 in Rio de Janeiro, but we can’t stop watching it. Of course, we love tilt-shift and this video uses the technique perfectly. Though, we’d like some explanation about why it opens with someone getting rescued from the ocean by a helicopter. Well, Carnaval is crazy like that.
10 things you probably didn’t know about Brazil
While many people may know the capital of Brazil is Brasília, the national drink is the caipirinha, and that Rio de Janeiro is a great place to party and relax on the beach, there is a lot more to be learned about this beautiful country. To help enhance your knowledge, here are ten interesting facts you may not have known about Brazil along with a photo gallery.
1. Natal, which means Christmas in English and is the capital of Rio Grande do Norte, was given this name because it was founded on December 25.
2. Brazil is the largest producer of coffee in the world. The main feature of the coffee grown in Brazil is the great diversity due to differences in soils, climate, species and varieties, and cultivation techniques in each region.
3. The most common last name in Brazil is Silva. Along with being very common in Portugal, Silva was also given to thousands of slaves brought into the country during the colonial period.
4. São Luís, capital of Maranhão, is the only Brazilian city founded by the French. The city name is a tribute to Louis XIII of France. Before the arrival of the Europeans the land was inhabited by the Tupinambas Indians, who called the place Upaon-Acu (Big Island).
5. Brazil’s soccer team is the only team that has participated in every World Cup. Currently, Brazil won five World Cups: 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002.
6. Pizza is definitely the favorite food of many “paulistas” (people from São Paulo). According to a survey conducted by the Food Service EDC, about 1.5 million pizzas are consumed each day in Brazil and the state of São Paulo is responsible for devouring 800,000, or 53% of them.
7. One of the main attractions in Rio, Sugar Loaf, is 1,296 feet above sea level and there are speculations that it consists of a single block of 6 million-year-old gneiss-granite, which comes from the separation between South America and Africa.
8. Angra dos Reis is a Brazilian municipality located in the southern part of Rio de Janeiro and includes in its territory 365 offshore islands, one for every day of the year (except leap years).
9. With over 80 different species, Brazil has more species of monkeys than any other country in the world.
10. Brazil is home to the Amazon Rainforest, the world’s largest remaining rainforest, which encompasses an area of 2.3 million square miles. Native Indian tribes can still be found dwelling in these rainforests today.
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Rio Carnival 2012: A playlist of traditional Carnival songs
During Carnival, the city of Rio de Janeiro pulses with the sound of percussion. Music is an integral part of the Brazilian festival, and it doesn’t seem like you can turn a corner without hearing the infectious drum-driven beats of samba music or the sounds of drunken celebrants singing traditional marchinhas at the tops of their lungs. Particularly in the blocos, music is a binding force, bringing together people from all walks of life — young, old, rich, poor, black, white — in nostalgic beats and familiar lyrics.
In Rio, the spirit of Carnival doesn’t disappear on Ash Wednesday; the native cariocas manage to embody it year-round. With the following playlist of musical hits from Rio Carnival 2012, you can too.
Unidos da Tijuca 2012 Marchinha
The winner of Rio’s famous samba school parades composed this song particularly for Carnival 2012.
Monobloco Marchinha
The band from the Monobloco bloco became so popular, they now perform year-round in music venues across Rio.
Batucada
A sub-style of samba, Batucada incorporates African drumbeats. This track, mixed by a popular DJ, will make you hit repeat.
Bloco do Sargento do Pimenta
Beatles, Brazilian-style? The Sargento do Pimenta (Sgt. Pepper) bloco specializes in Fab Four hits with a samba beat.
Marchinha Medley
Still don’t have enough samba? This one-hour medley has you covered.
Check out Gadling’s full range of Rio Carnival 2012 coverage here.
Rio Carnival 2012: The hottest drag queen costumes
At Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, it was common to come across fully made-up men who had traded their Havaianas for high heels. Though some were experienced cross dressers and drag queens, others saw the holiday as an opportunity to get in touch with their more feminine sides. Costumes ranged from the elaborate (Sambadrome-style feathers, stilettos, fake lashes) to the scrappy (tiny skirt, hastily smeared lipstick).
Regardless of the intensity of their get-ups, you had to give it up to the cross dressers of Rio Carnival. I certainly couldn’t do a bloco in heels that high. The photo gallery below showcases ten of the hottest drag queen costumes that I encountered.
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Check out Gadling’s full range of Rio Carnival 2012 coverage here.
Rio Carnival 2012: Backstage at the Sambadrome parades
“Follow the feathers” was my strategy for finding the Sambadrome stadium in Brazil this past Sunday, the first evening of Rio Carnival‘s famed samba parades. The metro exit was packed with crowds moving in all different directions, so I had little choice but to follow the handful of people wearing large, extravagant costumes in front of me. They were obviously going where I needed to go.
The strategy worked out, because my costumed friends didn’t just lead me to the parade venue — they headed straight for the backstage staging area where hundreds of dancers and participants were being outfitted for the main event. As the costumed gentry walked through the security gates, I concealed myself in their feathers and followed along. Backstage access, secured.
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The highlight of Rio de Janeiro‘s Carnival festivities, the Sambadrome parades are all-night marathon spectacles of samba school processions that take place over the Sunday and Monday of Carnival. The parades start at 8 p.m. and last until well past dawn, with about seven schools putting on elaborate shows of about an hour each.
Rio’s samba schools spend all year preparing for the parades, constructing huge floats, designing extravagant costumes, and of course, choreographing and practicing complex samba numbers. Each samba school chooses a theme and a story, usually related to some aspect of Brazilian culture. This year, for the first time, booklets were distributed to all guests that laid out each act of the parade, highlighted special celebrities, and listed the lyrics to each samba school’s signature marchinhas, or Carnival songs.
The work pays off. Thousands of people, Brazilians and tourists alike, pay up to $1500 for a chance to view the parades, and the results are followed as closely as the American Super Bowl. Schools are judged by ten categories, including theme, samba song, percussion band, harmony, flow and spirit, floats and props, costumes, vanguard group, flag carrying couple, and overall impression. This year, Unidas de Tijuca took the top prize, with a theme centered around folk singer Luiz Gonzaga and the culture of Brazil’s northeast region.
And the parades themselves? Breathtaking. The floats were massive, with mechanized figures and fountains. The costumes were gorgeous, and with the binoculars I borrowed from my neighbor, I could see the intricacies of the sequins and beading. The dancing was tremendous, and the 3,000 to 5,000 paraders exuded an energy that infected the entire stadium. Everyone was on their feet.
What words and photos can’t describe, hopefully this video can. Or, you could just start planning for next year.
Check out Gadling’s full range of Rio Carnival 2012 coverage here.