The Carnival Map of Brazil

30-01-2008 15:24

The Rio de Janeiro carnival is due to take place in just three weeks’ time – a hedonistic riot of samba and sequins famous the world over.

But Carnival isn’t just celebrated in Brazil’s most recognisable city – towns all over the diverse country pride themselves on putting on just as thrilling a show. We’ve picked out four of the best right here:

Best Carnival for...Culture Vultures

Once the most important city of Portugal’s empire, Salvador de Bahía has preserved its heritage well – baroque churches and colonial architectural gems can be seen everywhere you look, as can the centuries-old African cultural traditions of the slaves who were brought to Brazil centuries ago.

Salvador’s Carnival is a proud display of Bahía culture, with floats carrying Afro-Brazilian drummers, and colourfully decorated trucks (trio-elétricos) - equipped with powerful loud speakers stage singers and dancers of the region’s axé and pagode pop music.

Best Carnival for....Singletons

The narrow streets of the beautiful coastal town of Olinda make for a much more intimate carnival than Brazil’s bigger cities, with visitors and locals alike shaking their stuff to the frenetic rhythms of the frevo bands, who play from 8pm to 6am every night.

This cheeky carnival kicks off with a float carrying 400 men – jokingly called ‘virgins’ - dressed in drag, who compete for awards for the most risqué, the most beautiful and the biggest prude.

Best Carnival for...Beach Bums

After Salvador, the beach resort of Porto Seguro has Bahía’s second biggest carnival so it’s the perfect base to combine the Carnaval with some serious chilling out on the sand, cocktail in hand.

The town boasts a huge stretch of sandy bay, fringed by tropical vegetation, and for some serious R&R take a road trip south, through sleepy beach village after sleepy beach village.

Best Carnival for...Surfers and Clubbers

The southern region Santa Catarina is famous for its surfing beaches and beautiful people (Gisele Bundchen hails from the town of Blumenau), so it’s no wonder that a thriving club scene has grown up in the capital Florianópolis.

Carnival in Floripa, as it’s affectionately known, coincides with the peak surfing season, so expect a busy beach scene by day and sets by international house and techno DJs by night.

The city’s sambodrome also puts on extravagant displays by the four biggest samba schools on the island, so you won’t miss out on the traditional samba and sequins.