Carnival Rio de Janeiro and Salvador

Get ready for a week of gluttony, glitter and gaiety! If crowds are not your thing, Carnival in Brazil may not be the event for you. Whether you choose to be in the Bahia region partaking in a bloco on the streets of Salvador or stay in Rio to root for your favorite samba school at the Sambadrome, Carnival promises to offer as much entertainment and excitement as you can handle. Taking place forty days before Easter, the end of Carnival marks the beginning of Lent. Therefore the festival is seen as a farewell to physical desires, since most Roman Catholics (which includes most of Brazil) abstain from bodily pleasure until Easter Sunday. Determined to offer all the hedonistic amenities, Carnival is marked with masquerade costumes, decadents balls and overall obscene debauchery. This is an event everyone should participate in at least once in their life.

Links

• Gallery: Carnival Salvador
• Gallery: Carnival Rio
• Website: http://gosouthamerica.about.com/cs/southamerica/a/Carnaval.htm
• Website: http://www.bahia-online.net/Carnival.htm