Off-season Carnivals for those who can’t stay away from the party
They say in Brazil everything ends up in a Carnival party. Well nowadays politics probably don’t allow one to take that statement seriously. Anyway as soons as one Carnival ends people start counting the calendar days until the next one. But if you are among those who can’t just wait, there are some events happening along the year that may help you to control your anxiety until the next cycle. They are called generically as “Off-Season Carnivals”.
1. URUGUAIANA, MARCHÂ
Further South near the border with Uruguay there is a town named Uruguaiana, the best bet for those who love samba schools parades. It all began by accident. In 2005 the oldest and most traditional local samba school Os Rouxinóis (Nightingales) was forbidden to parade during the regular Carnival days due to a Court order, causing the organizers to postpone the parades. The extra time to prepare the presentations was well used and the parade made an impression. Since then, it became a tradition to have it every March. In Presidente Vargas Avenue two blocks and 14 samba schools try to grab the year’s title during three days. The fact that it happens after carnival allowed stars from São Paulo and Rio to attend to the party. Soon it became the third most important parade in the country.
The parade of the champion of Special Group in 2017:
2. CARNAVAL ANTIGO IN CONSERVATÓRIA, VALENÇA/RJ
If you wanna go back in time to know how Carnival in Rio was during the 1920s and 1930s before the samba schools became their march towards stardom the place to go is Consrvatória. That’s a small district in the city of Valença, about 150 km from Rio. Also known as Serenades Land this small village holds four days of a nostalgic party with old times Carnival songs and people dressed in costumes dancing on the streets. In 2017, the festivities will take place on October 13th , 14th, 20th and 21st.
Take a look at the atmosphere:
3.CARNATAL, NATAL/RN Â
During the official Carnival days, you can find lots of fun in Brazilian Northeastern cities. Music is different and the kind of parties also differs from those in the Southeast and Southern Brazil. There are some off-season carnivals in the region as well but they lost some of their importance since in June and July Brazilians celebrate their Festas Juninas (three days of music and dance to celebrate three catholic saints, Saint Anthony of Padua, Saint John and Saint Peter). In spite of that, Carnatal remains as the most important and largest off-season Carnival in Brazil. Thousands flock to the city of Natal every year in the first week of December. It was created in 1991 and attracts many popular bands and singers that perform at stages mounted at the top of huge sound trucks in a 3km course around Arena das Dunas, one of the Wolrd Cup 2014 stadiums. In 2017 the party will start on December 7th and go until the 10th. Care to join?
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