Carnaval in Brasil finished last week. As per usual, coverage in the UK focused solely on Rio’s spectacular affair; with countless images of scantily clad dancers and the odd celebrity (apparently Jude Law was paid £300,000 by beer sponsor Brahma to attend this year!), the metro’s coverage was typical.
Rio’s carnaval is however just one of hundreds that happen across Brasil and here I’ve pulled together links to pictures, video and music from those that happened across the country – in Recife, Belo Horizonte, Bahia and Macapa.
We’ll start in Rio – yet this is no glitzy bloco – in fact these guys would probably draw more fans in the UK than anywhere else. Let me to introduce you to the sensational Bloco do Sargento Pimenta - the Bloco of Sergeant Pepper. They only perform songs by the Fab Four and here are two killer clips from them. The first is them in a practise session performing ‘Sgt Pepper’s Maracatu’ and then a great video shot by a fan who was right in amongst them as they perform ‘Twist and Shout’ during the carnaval – pure goosebumps! I’m with them next year!
Next we head over to Belo Horizonte to check out Carnavaliza BH! – a collective of local musicians who recorded new carnaval-inspired compositions in tribute to their carnaval. The video for their track ‘Marchinha da Alcova’ below has some nice carnaval after-party vibes…
Get your own carnival started by buying the entire album on download here for only $5. It features ‘Marchinha da Alcova’ above plus the perky ‘Filhos de Chachá’ from ‘Oi!’ Contributors Graveola & many other future carnaval classics.
Recife-Olinda is one of Brasil’s biggest carnavals and here’s some footage of local hero DJ Dolores tearing it up with his newly-reformed Orquestra Santa Massa proving that they’ve lost none of their original fire:
Click here for some great street-shots of Recife’s carnaval taken by Beto Figueiroa (his photo is at the top of this piece) and here for photos from Recbeat – the music festival that runs alongside Recife’s carnaval – taken by their official photographer Caroline Bittencourt, including this rather fetching one of Ceu…
From Recife we head back down south to Paraty for this video of revellers getting in the spirit of the Bloco do Lama – the Mud bloco!
Here’s a nice selection of images from the carnaval in Macapa in the far north of the country – a more low key affair than the others but as you can see from the photo below still plenty to see…
Brazil’s biggest pop star Ivete Sangolo was in Bahia – here she is performing a surprisingly catchy slice of synth-axe that’s something to do with Superman:
And then finally we head back to Rio for some spooky goings-on courtesy of the Comissão de Frente da Unidos da Tijuca – many people considered them robbed of the first prize in the carnaval procession for their expertly synchronised performance:
Till next year, or if you’re in London, Notting Hill in August!
(Thanks to Vanessa Gabriel, Mariana Robles & Luiz Gabriel Lopes for sending over links and Caroline Bittencourt, Beto Figueiroa and Gavin Andrews for letting us use their photos)
