This weekend, Brazil dives into its most emblematic celebration: Carnival. This festivity transforms streets, sambadromes, and squares into open-air stages, where music, dance, and popular creativity mix with millions of people, many of whom come from abroad. In Rio de Janeiro, in the southeast of the country, the most anticipated moment will be the parade of the samba schools of the Special Group at the Sambadrome, which this year will extend for three nights: from Sunday the 15th to Tuesday the 17th. During two consecutive days, the main samba schools will present large-scale shows with monumental floats, thousands of dancers, and percussion sections that set the rhythm of the party with a display of lights, colors, and choreography that attracts international attention. Meanwhile, in São Paulo (southeast), the official parades of the samba schools began this Friday and continue this Saturday, consolidating the country's largest city as one of the main hubs of the Brazilian Carnival, according to the Argentine News Agency. In recent years, the state capital has also stood out for the expansion of urban blocs, which mobilize millions of people with musical offerings ranging from traditional samba to pop and electronic music. Further northeast, Carnival takes on its own identity in Salvador, where the festivities extend until February 18th with the famous 'trios elétricos,' enormous trucks equipped with powerful sound systems that move slowly through the main urban circuits. Established artists and popular bands animate the participants for hours of non-stop music on the Barra-Ondina, Campo Grande, and Pelourinho routes, with rhythms like axé, samba-reggae, and other Afro-Brazilian expressions that reflect the cultural heritage of Bahia. Also in the northeast, Recife and Olinda concentrate their main celebrations between this Saturday and Tuesday. In Olinda, the steep colonial streets fill with popular parades and the traditional giant figures, large-sized representations of historical figures, artists, and symbols of local culture. In Recife, the stages set up in the historic center give prominence to frevo and maracatu, rhythms that combine fast-paced dance and ancestral percussion. Other capitals also live an intense carnival program, such as Belo Horizonte, which has consolidated in the last decade as one of the main destinations of street Carnival, and Florianópolis, which also develops a party and parade agenda that extends until Tuesday. Beyond the spectacle, Carnival represents an economic engine for Brazil, as hotels, restaurants, air transport, and informal commerce register strong demand during these days.
