Articles of category "Carnival 2005"

For many people Harts Carnival is a love affair, impossible to relinquish. Each year tens of thousands return home to join the masses of ordinary Trinis and visitors "on the road" for a two-day festival, driven by intoxicating music. Carried along by constant rhythms, people shed their worries and inhibitions in a joyful blur of "freeness". Some state that it is the world's biggest street party and, if not in absolute numbers, it certainly is in spirit. Moreover, the Carnival has expanded far beyond its traditional climactic Monday and Tuesday to encompass a whole season. Costumes and "jumping up" in the streets are only the culmination of a long series of events, parties and rituals.

Carnival is Rio's main event. It happens at the peak of summer, when Cariocas are at their best. Festivities attract thousands of people from all the corners of the world. Carnaval, as spelled in Portuguese, is a four day celebration. It starts on Saturday and ends on Fat Tuesday, or Mardi-Gras. The dates change every year. Carnival Sunday is seven weeks before Easter Sunday. The origins of Carnival are unclear, though most agree that it started as a pagan celebration in ancient Rome or Greece. Carnival balls were imported to Rio from Italy in the late nineteenth century and had their golden era in the 1930 through 50's, with legendary balls at the Copacabana Palace and the Municipal Theater.