Bem
vindo! Willkommen! Welcome!
Bienvenido!
Bienvenue! Benvenuto!
THE
CARNIVAL
OF RECIFE
Pernambuco, Brazil
is a Streetcarnival.
Recife, the capital of Pernambuco, in the northeast of Brazil,
is a traditional Carnival destination for
Brazilians. For example,
there are people who live in Rio who like to escape the waves of
tourists arriving from around the world and party elsewhere. Recife and Olinda, its
neighbor, have
long been Carnival hot
spots for Brazilians from all over the country to let loose and
really party. In Recife, there are music stages downtown and
spread out through the city. In Olinda, the partying takes place
in the colorful, house-lined, sloping streets of the city.
The Carnival
festivities begin in December, as locals begin preparing for the
official Carnival in Recife and Olinda, which starts the week
before Ash Wednesday. The pre-Carnival parties usually consist
of percussion groups practicing in local clubs, city streets and
squares, and even Carnival balls. There are a variety of rhythms
from native Indian and African Maracatu beats to Frevo and
samba. Carnival officially starts with the Galo da Madrugada, a
party in downtown Recife attracting as many as 20,000 costumed
partiers!
The ball Baile
dos Artistas:
One of the most famous Gay Carnival Balls of Brazil is the
Baile
dos Artistas, (The Ball of the Artists), in Recife in the Club
"Club Portuguêse", (8
kilometers far from Hotel Pousada Peter), which
always takes place on friday, two weeks before the last weekend
of the
real Carnival of Recife and Olinda. This Baile
dos Artistas is one of the most creative and funniest carnival
balls of Brazil. Meanwhile it is so trendy, that all
of the
straight society of Recife and Pernambuco is participating, too.
Every year some tv companies are showing this Baile dos Artistas
life on tv. This ball Baile dos Artistas
is the begin of the last big carnival ball events of Recife. In
addition, there are a lot of other carnival ball events in
Recife, too.
The ball Baile Masque (Ball of the Masks):
The next big carnival ball after the Baile dos Artistas
is the ball Baile Masque, (Ball of the
Masks),
taking place one day after the Baile dos
Artistas always on saturday, two weeks before the last weekend
of the
real carnival of Recife and Olinda. Every year some tv
companies are showing this Baile Masque
life on tv.
The ball 
Baile Municipal:
The Baile Municipal, (Ball of the City Recife), is
taking place on the next saturday, which is the last weekend
before of "Carnival".
The Baile Municipal is the biggest carnival ball of Recife.
Every year some tv companies are showing this Baile Municipal
life on tv. In addition many numerous
other ballevents and carnival streetparties are taking place in
Recife and Olinda.
By the way, you will meet on all of this three big ballevents a
fix part of the same participants, who are enjoying this
wonderfull popular carnivalballs.
Last not least, this three carnival balls Baile
dos Artistas, Baile Masque and
the ball Baile Municipal are the
highlights of the Carnival Ball Season of Recife and
Pernambuco. They are popular events. This explains the
participation of the whole population, because the reasonable
prices for the entrance makes it possible.
Do you remember
those big dolls walking through the streets of New Orleans in
the James Bond classic Live and Let Die? Well, that's one of the
main characteristics of Carnival in Olinda. Olinda is characteri
zed by steep rolling hills covered with colorful
houses. Artists spend
the whole year making huge dolls, which will be worn by people
in street parades throughout the somewhat longer 11-day carnival
celebration, which is kicked off by two parades of 'virgins'
consisting of about thousands men in drag.
In Olinda, the people
celebrate Carnival in the streets.
Practically unknown to
foreign Carnival novices, Olinda has a very respected Carnival
tradition within the country of Brazil. So, if you want to
celebrate Carnival with a more native Brazilian feel, without
being totally surrounded by tourists from every other corner of
the world, as you'll find in Rio, Olinda is an excellent choice.
It's one of the longest Carnival celebrations, which lasts until
early March and believe me it is a very happening, big party,
attracting lots of beautiful Brazilians looking for a good time.
Carnaval
in
Olinda actually gets going two
Sundays before the official start, when the
" New Virgens do Bairro Novo
de Olinda, a new bloco
several hundred strong, parades down the seafront road followed
by crowds that regularly top 200,000.
One Sunday before the official start, when the "Virgens
do Bairro Novo", the traditional bloco
also several hundred strong, parades down the seafront road
followed by crowds that regularly top 200,000.
By now the old city is covered with decoration
s:
ribbons, streamers and coloured lanterns are hung from every
nook and cranny, banners are strung across streets and coloured
lighting set up in all the squares. Olinda's
Carnaval is not only famous for
its
bonecos, which are first paraded
around on Friday night and then at intervals during the days,
but also for the decorated umbrellas that aficionados use to
dance the frevo.
The tourist office has lists of the hundreds of groups, together
with routes and approximate times, but there is something going
on all the time in most places in the old city. The most
famous blocos, with mass
followings, are Pitombeira and Elefantes; also try catching the
daytime performances of travestis,
transvestite groups, which have the most imaginative costumes
– ask the tourist office to mark them out on the list for you.
Olinda's Carnaval
is generally considered to be one of the three greatest in
Brazil, along with Rio and Salvador. It overshadows the
celebrations in neighbouring Recife, and attracts thousands of
revellers from all over the Northeast. It's easy to see why
Olinda developed into such a major Carnaval: the setting is
matchless, and local traditions of art and music are very strong.
Like the other two great Brazilian carnivals, Olinda has a style
and feel all of its own: not quite as large and potentially
intimidating as in either Rio or Salvador, the
fact that much of
it takes place in the winding streets and small squares of the
old city makes it seem more manageable. The area of the historic
centre "Cidade Alta" of
town is one of the liveliest during Carnaval. The music,
with the local beats of frevo and maracatu
predominating, the costumes and the enormous bonecos,
papier-mâche figures of folk heroes or savage caricatures of
local and national personalities, make this Carnaval
unique. Therefore
the overnight accomodation prices
for carnival are in the historical center of
Olinda, the "Cidade Alta", highly like that as in Rio de
Janeiro and Salvador de Bahia.
Brazilians
are hot, sensual people and since Olinda is packed with
Brazilians coming to meet girls and guys from all over the
country you can bet the streets are s