The history of Carnival

The Brazilian Carnival is an annual festival that happens during 40 days before Easter until the beginning of Lent. The carnival believed to have its origins in the pagan Saturnaliais, and it’s celebrated as a profane event that can thus be considered an act of farewell to the pleasures of the flesh.

The first records of Carnival festivities in Rio de Janeiro date back to 1723. When immigrants from the Portuguese islands of Açores, Madeira and Cabo Verde introduced here the Entrudo.

The idea was basically getting everybody happy and soaked wet. People would go out in the streets with buckets of water and limes, and everybody could be a potential victim. Even Emperors took part in the fun. There's a curious record of a woman being arrested in 1855 for throwing a lime at Dom Pedro I's escorts.

After that in 1872 the Carnival started to be transformed to a working class festivity. People would dress up in costumes and perform on the parade accompanied by an orchestra of strings, ganzás, flutes, and other instruments. They were more organized than the Cordões, and gained popularity around 1911.