Fun Hunter

You’re going to the Rio Carnival Parade, Where Will You Sit?

The Rio Carnival Parade is part of the Rio Carnival celebration that takes place every year in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This year, the Rio Carnival is February 13-17, 2010. The Rio Carnival parade, which is the most popular event during the Rio Carnival, is also referred to as the Rio Samba Parade.

The Rio Samba Parade is actually a competition between the Rio Samba schools. The Rio Samba Parade takes place in the Sambodromo which is the stadium of samba. The Sambodromo is off of Parading Avenue. The area was designed by Oscar Niemeyer, the world famous architect, and was specifically designed for the Rio Samba Parade. The Sambodromo was finalized in 1984 and seats around 70,000 spectators.

Tickets for the Rio Samba parade are sold in advance. Tickets can be purchased online or at the event however, there may not be any left at the time of the event. Decide what day and sector you want to go to the Rio Samba parade, and decide if you want Read the rest of this entry »

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The 2010 Rio Carnival is Fast Approaching, Have you Looked for your Rio Carnival Costumes?

Are you attending the breath-taking, marvelous and historical Rio Carnival Parade in Rio de Janeiro in 2010? Rio Carnival costumes must be ordered well in advance of the 2010 Rio Carnival 2010 Samba Parade. Have you thought about getting your Rio Carnival costumes yet? You will need to start looking, and what better place to start looking for your Rio Carnival costume than the Internet. Simply search for “Rio Carnival Costumes” and you will be provided with a list of possible sources for your costume.

Once you have decided where you will purchase your Rio Carnival costume from, you will need to decide exactly what you want to wear and how much you are capable of spending. Rio Carnival costumes can be very expensive, but are very beautiful at the same time. The costumes are an intricate display of glitter and sequins, feathers and bows, colors and diamonds. The Rio Carnival costumes are simply breath-taking and you will want to be up to par with everyone else at the event, so you will need to plan very carefully what you are intending to wear.

The main event at the Rio Carnival where you will wear your costume is the Rio Samba Parade, in the Sambodromo. It is here that you will wear your 2010 Rio Carnival costume. You may be marching in the Rio Samba Parade or you may be content being a spectator but regardless, the costumes will be Read the rest of this entry »

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The 2010 Rio Carnival is fast approaching which means you need to decide where you are going to stay, what you are going to do, and what you need to expect. This year, the Rio Carnival is February 13-17, 2010. You will definitely need to do some research and there are hundreds of web sites with available information regarding the 2010 Rio Carnival on the Internet. You will find a list of hotels and events pertaining to the Rio Carnival on these websites.

Although the Rio Carnival is celebrated throughout Brazil and many other Catholic Countries, Rio de Janeiro is really at the heart of the Rio Carnival Celebration. Once you have decided if you will be staying in the heart of the Rio Carnival, Rio de Janeiro, then you should search this place in the lists found on the websites. Look at the events and then look at the hotels that are near to them. This way you can decide where you would like to stay.

The Samba Parade is the Rio Carnival’ s main event. The Samba Parade is also referred to as the Samba Schools Parade, a competition between all the Rio Samba schools. Spectators say this parade is an unparalleled experience and a once in a lifetime opportunity. Participants in the parade come back year after year as participants.

Most hotels in the area offer package deals during Rio Carnival. Many of the package deals involve Read the rest of this entry »

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The Carnival is also part of Greek culture. It is believed that the carnival tradition was followed by Greek people to honor Dionysus, the famous god of wine. There was carnival like atmosphere during the ancient Greek spring festival. The ancient carnivals were very luxurious celebrations with music, alcohol, food, and companionship. The word “Carnival” is derived from the Latin word “Carne Vale”, which means “Farewell to Flesh”. There was a Carnival held in Italy, which were wild costume festivals, held every year by certain catholic religious people. This festival was held before the first day of lent.

The Africans also had a carnival tradition where youths in the African villages used to roam around in the streets of the village wearing costumes and masks. They used to go around the village in circles, as they believed it would bring them good luck.

This kind of carnival was also held to heal problems and calm down angry relatives who were dead. The mask used during the carnival was made from items such as beads, shells, bones, grasses, and fabric. The Africans put feather in their Read the rest of this entry »

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Are you thinking about treating yourself to a Caribbean Carnival Cruise? Have you been considering a cruise for awhile now and finally decided you deserve it? You’ ve heard from friends and family that Caribbean Carnival Cruises are the way to go by way of cruise ships so what’ s your next step? Go to the Caribbean Carnival cruise web site. If you don’t have access to a computer you can also call and they will send you a full-color brochure detailing every inch of what their site details.

First, decide where you want to depart from. There is a list of departure cities on the site, and those cities are Anchorage, AK; Baltimore, MD; Barbados; Charleston, SC; Ensenada, Mexico; Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Galveston, TX; Honolulu, HI; Jacksonville, FL; Los Angeles, CA; Miami, FL; Mobile, AL; New Orleans, LA; New York, NY; Norfolk, VA; Port Canaveral, FL; Rome, Italy; San Diego, CA; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Seattle, WA; Tampa, FL; and Vancouver, Canada.

You will also delight in doing some research as to where the Caribbean Carnival cruise destination choices are. You can choose between beautiful cities and areas such as Alaska, Bahamas, Canada and New England, Caribbean, Europe, Hawaii and Mexico. The Transatlantic and Caribbean Carnival Cruise lines offer Read the rest of this entry »

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Each year, many events take place in the Caribbean islands as a part of a Caribbean Carnival. Anguilla, Anitgua, Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Belize, Bonaire, Cayman Islands, Curacao, Grenada, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Saint-Martin, Trinidad and Tobago are just some of the many islands that celebrate Caribbean Carnivals annually.

While the Caribbean’s Carnivals are not necessarily based on amusement rides, they’re all based on some theme celebrating folklore, culture and religion. Caribbean Carnivals all have three things in common; celebration of music, costumes and competitions. Some of the music genres which are celebrated at these Caribbean Carnivals are Bouyon music, Brukdown, Cadence music, Junkanoo, Kaiso, Punta, Ringbang, Soca, Salsa, Spouge, Steelpan, Tuk and Tumba. Some of the characters that are celebrated through beautiful and intricate costuming are Burrokeets, Cow Bands, Dame Lorraine, Fancy Indians, Jab Jan and Jab Molassie, Midnight Robber, Moko Jumbies, and Pierrot Grenade.

Everyone has their favorite aspect of the Caribbean Carnival whether it is the celebration of the art of music, or the celebration of disguise through the costumes and characters; many children’s favorites are the competitions. The competitions involved in most of the Caribbean Carnivals include the Read the rest of this entry »

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Held prior to Lent each year, the festival is an extravaganza of color and festivities to which many thousands of people flock each and every year. The make-up of the carnival is quite extraordinary, with luxury balls and galas being held across the city and many carnival festivities taking place in the Sambadrome in downtown Rio de Janeiro.

With influences from African dance and the roots of carnivals in Roman mythology, the mix of cultures on display at the Rio de Janeiro carnival is extraordinary and is certainly a sight to behold for everyone who is involved with it.

The Rio de Janeiro Carnival dates back to 1723 when it started out as a pre-Lent festival and celebration - much like many carnivals around the world. Carnivals were initially intended as religious celebrations and contained offerings to Roman gods. Modern day carnivals, however, are far removed from their initial roots and have become vast celebrations of enjoyment for local people to embrace the rich mixture of cultures which influence each and every carnival worldwide.

Today, the carnival in Rio de Janeiro is perhaps best known for its famous parade, which first took place in the 1930s. The parade starts on the Sunday evening and goes through until the Monday morning, with the majority of the carnival festivities taking place in the Sambadrome in downtown Rio de Janeiro.

The main purpose and attraction of the carnival procession is the participation of many people from various samba schools - groups of people who have come together to participate in the carnival for their “team”. Each samba school selects a theme to portray and designs their Read the rest of this entry »

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It should be noted that samba schools are not traditional schools. Samba schools are basically social and cultural groups that meet at regular intervals to learn and perform Brazilian samba dance, music and costumes. One folklore says that the term ‘school’ originated from the time when the early sambistas used to rehearse near a teachers’ college.

Samba schools are a part of life of the people of Brazil. This is especially true for people who were born and brought up in Rio de Janeiro. Such gatherings take place so that members can rehearse the samba for the Sambodrome parade during the Brazilian Carnival. Each member of the samba schools are expected to participate in the Carnival. It does not matter if he or she is a professional or a novice. Most of the performances are theme based with each samba school boasting of a master of ceremonies, flag bearer, bateria (drum section) and spectacular floats. The most popular samba schools usually perform on Sunday and Monday night whereas the others perform on Tuesday night.

Samba schools are the life of Rio de Janeiro. The name itself conjures up beautiful Brazilian women with swinging hips, dressed in mind boggling costumes. Full nudity is prohibited but often a glitter and body paint is used with minimal clothing. Anybody who has seen these carnivals admits that the effect is spectacular.

Characterized by singing and dancing during the samba, these schools are fiercely competitive. In the city of Rio de Janeiro, one can see samba procession, where participants wear richly colorful and exotic costumes. One should not get confused as most of the samba schools around Rio de Janeiro have the words Grêmio Recreativo e Escola de Samba (Fraternity Recreative and Samba School) before their names. In Sao Paulo, this becomes Grêmio Recreativo Cultural e Escola de Samba (Fraternity Recreative Cultural and Samba School). Some exceptions to these are Read the rest of this entry »

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The Carnival in the Caribbean Islands is a big feast for everyone. With vibrant and colorful costumes, floats, musical competitions, delicious food, and drinks the whole atmosphere turns into one big party scene. The carnival is a great way to break the fast known as Lent. Once this period is over people get excited, soak into the party atmosphere, and enjoy the carnival. They forget connecting with daily stuff that they do and take a break to enjoy the carnival. The ‘Mardi Gras’ day is the day when Lent Catholics bid farewell to meat. Then this fast is broken during Ash Wednesday as the Carnival starts.

The carnivals are held in different seasons across the Caribbean. Some Islands prefer to hold the Carnival after the Ash Wednesday whereas other Islands prefer to hold it after Easter. A few Islands have the carnival during the summer season. However, for the people it hardly matters as to which season the carnival is held in, because they only like to enjoy and party hard during the carnival period. The main idea across the Caribbean is to have a good time during the carnival period.

The actual preparation process for the Carnival starts well in advance. At some places, the planning for next year’s carnival starts soon after that year’s carnival is over. For others the planning usually starts 6 months before the carnival period. The first step is to select the theme based on the culture of that Caribbean Island and then plan the costumes, float, and music according to this theme. During the time of carnival in the Caribbean Islands events like King and Queen Contests, Parades, Music competition, and Concerts are held. There are prizes given out to the Read the rest of this entry »

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Many of us will visit carnivals and participate in the festivities that ensue, but how many of us know about carnival culture and origin of carnival?

The roots of carnival culture can be found in Roman Catholicism. The Romans would hold carnivals prior to Lent in order to use up the food that would go unused during the Lenten period. In some countries, such as Cyprus, the carnival culture still revolves very heavily around this premise.

The earliest example of such an event is that of the Italian Carnival of Venice. This particular carnival has its roots in the Roman festivals of Saturnalia and Bacchanalia. Saturnalia, which took place on the seventeenth day of December each year, was a festival dedicated to the Roman god Saturn, god of agriculture and strength. Bacchanalia, held on the sixteenth and seventeenth days of March, was held in the grove of Simila, near Aventine Hill, and was held to commemorate and honour Bacchus, the Roman god of wine.

From Italy, carnival celebration spread quickly throughout Catholic Europe; first into Spain, Portugal and France before its influence reached the German Rhineland and traveled overseas to Latin America with the mass migration of Spanish and Portuguese in the fifteenth century. From here, carnival culture spread into the Caribbean regions. Interestingly, the United Kingdom’s popular carnival culture has Read the rest of this entry »

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