Brazilian Carnival
Devla Imperatrix Queen of Carnaval in Rio De Janeiro. | |
| Also called | Carnaval |
|---|---|
| Observed by | Brazilians, communities worldwide |
| Type | Cultural, Religious (Roman Catholicism) |
| Significance | Celebration prior to fasting season of Lent. |
| Begins | Friday before Ash Wednesday (51 days to Easter) |
| Ends | Ash Wednesday midday (46 days before Easter) |
| 2024 date | Afternoon, February 9 – midday, February 14 |
| 2025 date | Afternoon, February 28 – midday, March 5 |
| 2026 date | Afternoon, February 13 – midday, February 18 |
| 2027 date | Afternoon, February 5 – midday, February 10 |
| Frequency | annual |
| Related to | Carnival, Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday, Lent |
The Carnival of Brazil (Portuguese: Carnaval do Brasil, IPA: [kaʁnaˈvaw]) is an annual festival held the Friday afternoon before Ash Wednesday at noon, which marks the beginning of Lent, the forty-day period before Easter. During Lent, Roman Catholics and some other Christians traditionally abstain from the consumption of meat and poultry, hence the term "carnival", from carnelevare, "to remove (literally, "raise") meat."
Carnival is the most popular holiday in Brazil and has become an event of huge proportions. Except for industrial production, retail establishments such as malls, and carnival-related businesses, the country unifies completely for almost a week and festivities are intense, day and night, mainly in coastal cities. Rio de Janeiro's carnival alone drew 6 million people in 2018, with 1.5 million being travelers from inside and outside Brazil. Rio's carnival is the largest in the world according to Guinness World Records.
Historically its origins can be traced to the Portuguese Age of Discoveries when their caravels passed regularly through Madeira island, a territory which already celebrated emphatically its carnival season, and where they were loaded with goods but also people and their ludic and cultural expressions.