MARDI GRAS 2013: Brazil’s Carnival erupts in an explosion of colour

 

 

Samba time! Brazil’s Carnival erupts in an explosion of colour as millions thunder through the streets for the start of the five-day fiesta Brazil's Carnival celebrations opened with a bang yesterday as hundreds of thousands took to the streets to enjoy the start of the country's famous parades and street parties. Korean popstar Psy, whose "Gangnam Style" single with its signature dance moves has made him a global phenomenon, performed to huge crowds in Salvador, Brazil's third-biggest city, last night. Other Brazilian and foreign celebrities, including US actress Megan Fox, are flying out to liven up the celebrations in Rio de Janeiro and elsewhere. Parade: Members of the Mancha Verde samba school at Sao Paulo's Sambadrome Va-Va voom: Dancers from Vai-vai samba school take centrestage in the parade at San Paulo last night. The five days of street parties, balls and parades traditionally shut down most of Latin America's biggest country, luring millions of locals and tourists to celebrations across the country. Rio alone is expected to attract 900,000 tourists and generate £420 million for the local economy this year. The different carnivals, which take place in Sao Paulo, Pernambuco, Minas Gerais as well as Rio and Salvador and numerous other cities, each showcase their own type of music such as samba, samba-reggae and funk samba. Last night parades began in Sao Paulo's specially built Sambadrome, a space designed for parades. Got rhythm: a queen of the drums of the Rosas de Ouro samba school performs during the first night of Sao Paulo's Carnival parades Technicolor samba: dancers from the Rosas de Ouro samba school perform in Sao Paulo in the small hours of this morning Dazzle: revellers from the Academicos do Tatuape samba school and the samba school Mancha Verde Special Group join in the first night of carnival parade at Sao Paolo's Sambadrome Fab for a parade: members of the Academicos do Tatuape samba school perform in Sao Paulo while this dancer from the Rosas de Ouro samba school is dwarfed by his float Piano men: members of the Mancha Verde samba school wow the audience in Sao Paulo's Sambadrome In flight: the samba groups bid to outperform each other, and carnivals in the regions of Brazil showcase different styles of samba linked to their local heritage The annual event takes place in the days leading up to Lent, the 40-day period before Easter. It began yesterday with the the mayor of Rio de Janeiro symbolically handing over the keys of the city to King Momo, the ceremonial figurehead of Brazil's best-known Carnival celebrations. But this year's festivities are taking place under the pall of the recent nightclub fire that killed 238 people in the southern city of Santa Maria. Sixty-five others are still hospitalised. On Thursday evening President Dilma Rousseff attended a mass in honour of the victims of the disaster at the cathedral in Brasilia, the capital. Her press office said she would not be taking part in this year's events. Dozens of cities, most of them near where the 27 January nightclub disaster occurred, cancelled or toned down some of their festivities. Hundreds of nightclubs and other venues remain closed after municipal authorities across the country moved to crack down on lax enforcement of safety codes, one of several factors that investigators say led to the tragedy in Santa Maria. Gaudencio Torquato, a columnist writing in the Estado de S.Paulo newspaper, this week compared Brazil to a 'see-saw', a country where emotional 'highs and lows relieve each other without interruption'. In addition, Salvador suffered a power cut on Thursday, which was caused by short circuits after revellers threw Carnival tinsel on power lines. Charge: after the Sao Paulo festivities last night and tonight, parades in Rio kick off on Sunday Weird and wonderful: members of the samba school Rosas de Ouro Special Group at the Sambadrome Big band: drummers from the Mancha Verde samba school make some noise Energy: carnival marks the run-up to Lent, historically a few days of indulgence before the period of abstinence Come on, boys: the five days of parades, balls and street parties are expected to attract millions of locals and tourists Play to the gallery: the parades take place in the Sambadrome, a specially built space for parades Shout it out: the overwhelming popularity of the carnival events boosts Brazil's economy to the tune of £420 million Walk like an Egyptian: revellers' costumes have become iconic in the way Brazil markets itself to the world

In Rio de Janeiro, more than 72,000 spectators jammed into the Sambodrome to watch the spectacle of samba school floats, dancers, and extravagant costumes during Carnival. Even more people -- millions of locals and visitors -- took part in the many "blocos," or street parties, dancing and drinking into the wee hours of the night. Collected here are images from Rio and Sao Paulo, Brazil, as Carnival 2013 comes to a close. A reveler from the Vila Isabel samba school participates in the annual Carnival parade in Rio de Janeiro's Sambadrome, on February 12, 2013.(Reuters/Sergio Moraes) 2 A man paints a Carnival float sculpture at the Grande Rio Samba school in Rio de Janeiro, on January 22, 2013. It's from warehouses like this one that Rio's over-the-top glitz-and-glam Carnival parades emerge. The internationally renowned competition between 12 elite samba groups dazzles more than a billion spectators in person and on TV for two days, but it takes nearly a year and hundreds of workers, many of them volunteers, to pull each one together. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana) # 3 Revelers pack the streets during the "Cordao da Bola Preta" street carnival parade in Rio de Janeiro, on February 9, 2013. According to Rio's tourism office, Rio's street Carnival this year will consist of 492 block parties, attended by an estimated five million Carnival enthusiasts.(AP Photo/Felipe Dana) # 4 The mythical jester figure who reigns over Carnival, King Momo, is represented by the the crowned and costumed Milton Rodrigues Junior who arrives for the official kick-off ceremony flashing a thumbs-up, in Rio de Janeiro, on February 8, 2013. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana) # 5 A performer from the Sao Clemente samba school sits as she waits before Carnival at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, on February 11, 2013. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana) # 6 (1 of 3) In this photo taken Tuesday, February 5, 2013, samba dancer and call center supervisor Diana Prado talks with a co-worker, in Rio de Janeiro. Although her hectic schedule of pre-Carnival preparations often requires her to apply her extravagant glitter stage makeup in the office bathroom, Prado insists being a samba dancer, or "passista," in Portuguese, doesn't undermine her authority with the 15 telemarketers she supervises. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana) # 7 (2 of 3) Samba dancer Diana Prado, right, in costume as she prepares for a carnival parade at central station in Rio de Janeiro. Though passistas are unquestionably the star attractions of the world's most iconic Carnival celebrations, they're not on the payroll of the samba school they represent. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana) # 8 (3 of 3) Passista Diana Prado performs in a carnival parade at central station in Rio de Janeiro. A call center supervisor by day the 27-year-old's double life is split down the middle, between the glitz and glam, feathers and body paint of Carnival and the workaday office reality of head-sets and cubicles. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana) # 9 Performers from the Inocentes de Belford Roxo samba school parade on a float during carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio, on February 10, 2013. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana) # 10 Revelers of the Unidos da Tijuca samba school participate in the annual carnival parade in Rio, on February 10, 2013.(Reuters/Ricardo Moraes) # 11 Performers from the Unidos da Tijuca samba school parade during carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome, on February 11, 2013.(AP Photo/Felipe Dana) # 12 Performers from the Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel samba school parade in Rio, on February 11, 2013. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana) # 13 A performer from the Academicos do Salgueiro samba school during carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome, on February 10, 2013.(AP Photo/Felipe Dana) # 14 A dragon rises behind a performer from the Beija Flor samba school in Rio, on February 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana) # 15 Performers from the Unidos de Vila Isabel samba school parade at the Sambadrome, on February 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) # 16 Revelers from the Beija Flor samba school, in Rio de Janeiro's Sambadrome, on February 11, 2013. (Reuters/Ricardo Moraes) # 17 Performers from the Mangueira samba school, at the Sambadrome on February 11, 2013. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) # 18 A dancer from the Uniao da Ilhia samba school performs during the first night of Carnival in Rio, on February 11, 2013.(Christophe Simon/AFP/Getty Images) # 19 A masked performers from the Uniao da Ilha do Governador samba school, in Rio, on February 11, 2013. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) # 20 A member of the Inocentes de Belford-Roxo samba school performs atop a float during the first night of Carnival in Rio, on February 10, 2013.(Vanderlei Almeida/AFP/Getty Images) # 21 The Salgueiro samba school participates in the annual Carnival parade in Rio, on February 10, 2013. (Reuters/Pilar Olivares) # 22 Revelers from the Vila Isabel samba school participate in the Carnival parade in Rio, on February 12, 2013. (Reuters/Ricardo Moraes) # 23 A woman poses for photos before participating in Carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome, on February 10, 2013.(AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) # 24 A performer from the Sao Clemente samba school is tossed in the air in the Sambadrome, on February 12, 2013.(AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo) # 25 Performers from the Academicos do Salgueiro samba school parade on a float in Rio, on February 10, 2013. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana) # 26 Members of the Mangueira samba school, during carnival celebrations in Rio, on February 11, 2013. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) # 27 A performer from the Beija Flor samba school, at the Sambadrome, on February 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana) # 28 Performers from the Inocentes de Belford Roxo samba school, on a float in the Sambadrome in Rio, on February 10, 2013.(AP Photo/Felipe Dana) # 29 A float from the Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel samba school in Rio's Sambadrome, on February 11, 2013.(AP Photo/Felipe Dana) # 30 Revelers of the Inocentes de Belford-Roxo samba school, in the Sambadrome, on February 10, 2013. Inocentes paid tribute to the 50th aniversary of South Korean immigration to Brazil. (Antonio Scorza/AFP/Getty Images) # 31 A reveler from the Mocidade Alegre Samba School takes part in a carnival at Anhembi Sambadrome, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on February 10, 2013.(Reuters/Nacho Doce) # 32 A performer from the Mangueira samba school, during carnival celebrations in Rio de Janeiro, on February 11, 2013.(AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) # 33 A dancer from the Nene da Vila Matilde samba school during a carnival parade in Sao Paulo, on February 9, 2013. (AP Photo/Andre Penner) # 34 A performer from the Academicos do Grande Rio samba school, in the Sambadrome in Rio, on February 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana) # 35 A member of Academicos do Tatuape samba school, before the first night of carnival parade at the Sambadrome in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on February 8, 2013. (Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images) # 36 A performer from the Unidos de Vila Isabel samba school during Carnival in Rio, on February 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana) # 37 Performers from the Academicos do Grande Rio samba school, in Rio's Sambadrome, on February 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) # 38 Drum Queen Camila Silva of the Mocidade Independente samba school, on the first night of the annual Carnival parade in Rio de Janeiro's Sambadrome, on February 11, 2013. (Reuters/Pilar Olivares) # 39 Performers from the Portela samba school, during the first night of Carnival, in Rio de Janeiro, on February 11, 2013.(Antonio Scorza/AFP/Getty Images)