Let Carnival Begin

The most famous carnival takes place in Rio de Janeiro, with samba schools. They are big, social entities with hundreds of members and a different theme each year. People practice and prepare themselves for it for a year. The samba schools compete among them on the famous carnival parade that happens at Sambódromo, a parade route built in 1982. Millions of people watch the parade on TV.

But if you turn your back to the South East of Brazil and go up North a bit, you will find a different type of celebration. You will arrive in Salvador. There, people don't wear big expensive costumes, they just follow the Trio Elétrico. That is an massive adapted truck, with huge speakers and a platform where musicians play songs. The truck is driven around the city with the crowd following around; dancing and singing. The atmosphere is amazing and people sometimes pay US$400 to be able to join some of the popular Trio Elétricos.

If you go to Recife, you'll see the largest carnival parade in the world according to The Guinness Book. It's called Galo da Madrugada. In 2006, the number of people that followed the parade on the streets of the center of Recife was nearly 2 millions, which is more than the entire population of the city (1.422.000 inhabitants).

It isn't all about partying, though. Carnival in Brazil also brings problems. It is when people are more vulnerable and tend to have sex without protection. The Brazilian govern and the Catholic church usually tend to disagree about methods to increase concern about the issue. Condoms are given away for free and this year, for the first time, also the "next day" pill.

It is also during carnival when the country has more deaths caused by car accidents.