carnival in america

2. The Carnival in Rio de
Janeiro is a world
famous festival held
before Lent every year
and considered the
biggest carnival in the
world with two million
people for day on the
streets. The first
festivals of Rio date
back to 1723.

3. The typical Rio carnival parade is filled with revelers, floats and adornments from
numerous samba schools which are located in Rio. A samba school is composed of a
collaboration of local neighbours that want to attend carnival together.
These people have choreographed
dances in fancy costumes that usually
tell a short story.
As the parade is taking place in the
Sambadrome and the balls are being
held in the Copacabana Palace and
beach, many carnival participants are
at other locations. Street festivals are
very common during carnival and are
highly populated by the locals.
Elegance and extravagance are usually left behind, but music and dancing are still
extremely common. Anyone is allowed to participate in the street festivals.

4. Bandas and blocos are
very familiar with the
street carnival
especially because it
takes nothing to join in
on the fun except to
jump in. One of the
most well known
bandas of Rio is Banda
de Ipanema. Banda de
Ipanema was first
created in 1965 and is
known as Rio’s most
irreverent street band.
The format of the band was inspired by the Philarmonica Embocadura, a
Carnival street band in the city of Uba, in the neighboring state of Minas
Gerais. Designer Ferdy Carneiro rented a bus in 1959 to take some of his
Carioca friends to spend Carnival in his hometown. The event was headed by
the presidents of the band, dressed in white suits and hats while pretending
to play musical instruments.

5. Incorporated into every aspect of the Rio carnival are dancing and music. The most
famous dance is carnival samba, a Brazilian dance with African influences. The
samba remains a popular dance not only in carnival but in the ghettos outside of the
main cities.

6. Street parades, blocos and bandas take place throughout the city of Rio during
Carnival. There can be more than 300 bandas taking place at any given point in
time. While the biggest street party takes place right outside the Sambadrome, the
largest organized street dance is typically found on Cinelândia Square in Rio’s
Centro. When the Sambadrome was built in 1984, it had the side-effect of taking
street parades from the downtown area to a specific, ticketed performance area.
In 1984 the government
decided to give Rio Carnival
its new home in the
Sambadrome. Today, some
of the most famous events
of Rio Carnival are ticketed
events.
Carnival ticket prices can
vary from US$55 to
US$3000,Tickets can be
bought in advance through
international brokers, or
through local travel agents
in Rio de Janeiro.

7. The New Orleans Mardi
Gras also known
as Mardi Gras is the
annual celebration of
Carnival in
New Orleans, Louisiana
in the United States.
The season of the New
Orleans Mardi
Gras, begins after the
Epiphany. It is a season
of parades, balls, and
receptions.

8. The celebrations are
concentrated in two weeks
before Mardi
Gras. Usually there is a
bigparade every day; in
many days are
held several great
saves. The biggest parades take
place the last five days of the
season. In the final week of
Carnival, many events large
and small, occur throughout
New Orleans and surrounding
communities.
The big parades take place in areas Uptown and Mid-City and follow a route
along St.Charles Avenue and Canal Street, upstream of the French Quarter.
The parade routes Uptown and Mid-City are normally reserved for families and
individuals of all ages who want to just enjoy the party.

9. The parades in New Orleans are organized
by Carnival krewe. Those who walk in procession on
the crowd throw strips of colored paper,
confetti, facsimile of one dollar
coins in wooden or plastic embossed with the logo of
the krewe and small inexpensive toys. The
main krewe follow, every year, the same timetable
for the parade along the same path.
Exposed parts of the
body, in an attempt
to capture
more confetti, is
not frowned upon by the
police
department and may give
rise to a fine or arrest.

10. The traditional
colors of Mardi Gras are purple, green
and gold. Are said to have been chosen
by Grand Duke Alexis Alexandrovitch
Romanoff of Russia during a visit to
NewOrleans in
1872. purple indicates justice, green faith
and gold power.