February/March 2020 FORUM

CAMPINASCHAPTER
February/March2020
CarnavalinSãoPaulo
ByMalcolmMacdonald,VicePresident
Carnaval, the largest Brazilian festival,
originated in Salvador during the
colonial period, around the 17 th
century, with the celebration of Entrudo, a
partyofPortugueseoriginthatlastedthree
days and preceded Lent. The party was
celebrated on the streets, did not always
involvemusic,andboileddowntorunning
through the cities throwing water and
“limoes de cheiro” a kind of 17 th century
water-balloon where the lime scented
liquidwasencasedinaballmadeofathin
layerofwax.
Over time, Carnaval in Brazil became
popular,grewbeyondSalvadorandgained
different characteristics in each region. In
São Paulo, the party acquired different
socio-cultural elements in the early
twentieth century, with the common
peopleenjoyingdancessuchasthejongo,
and the Moçambique Conga along with
traditional dances and songs. The upper
classes enjoyed traditional Carnaval balls
promoted in the great halls of the high
society with music and dances more akin
toEuropeanfancydressballs.
Samba started to emerge in the late 19th
century, heavily inspired by former slaves
whoenjoyedrhythmicdrummingandlithe
dancing in colorful costumes. The first
Samba group of samba lovers called a
CordãoinSãoPauloappearedin1914and
wascalled“CordãodaBarraFunda”.Therest
is history. Everyone loved the idea, several
other“Cordões”emergedandlater,asearly
as 1930, many were transformed into the
first samba schools and samba“blocks”in
thestate.
Longaccustomedtoplayingsecond,third,
or even fourth fiddle to theWorld famous
CarnavalfestivalsinRio,Salvador,andRecife,
the São Paulo Carnaval is now the second
largestinthecountry,withdozensofsamba
schools,hundredsofCarnavalstreetblocks,
andthousandsoftouristsfromaroundthe
worldwhovisitthecitytofollowtheparty
asupcloseandpersonalaspossible.
IfyouarenewlyarrivedinSãoPauloandare
thinking how lucky you are to be so close
to Rio for Carnaval but shame it’s so
crowded and expensive, may I make a
suggestion that the Carnaval in São Paulo
is a surprisingly excellent substitute and
better cost benefit. Tickets to watch the
parade, while not cheap, are much more
affordablethaninRio.
Perhaps the most fun is to take advantage
ofanopportunitytoactuallyparadewitha
mainSãoPaulosambaschool.Todothisyou
don'tneedaticket.Youonlyneedtobuya
predesigned costume and be prepared to
wait in the wings for your time to shine. I
havedonethismyself,andthoughreluctant
atthetimeImustadmit,thereisabsolutely
nobetterwayofunderstandingthepower
of Brazilian Carnaval than parading down
theSãoPaulosambadrome,cheeredonby
tensofthousandsofhappyrevelers.
Every year some of us from American
Society of São Paulo-Campinas, including
someboardmembers,gathersomefriends
and hit the “largest stage in the world”.
There is nothing like it. Contact me at
malcolm.macdonald@amsoc.com.br if you
are interested in finding out if any
“participationslots”arestillavailable.§
CampinasChapter
BoardRepresentatives
ManuelaMoreno
Manuela.Moreno@amsoc.com.br
MalcolmMacdonald
Malcolm.Macdonald@amsoc.com.br
TheAmericanSocietyofSãoPauloFORUMNewsletter 9