Recife Carnival 2009

You might be forgiven for finding people from Brazil’s Pernambuco region a trifle imbued with their own importance…they tend to say that everything there is the biggest and the best! But when it comes to Carnival, it has to be said: they are absolutely right.

Olinda © Sophie Colombie

There is little that can prepare the unsuspecting traveller for Carnival, Brazilian-style. The ambience, the colours, the heat, the people, the noise, the sheer size of it all…And while many go for the glitter of Rio’s samba schools, or the Trio Eléctricos of Bahía’s Salvador, up in the coastal Nordeste region, the capital of Pernambuco, Recife and its sister town Olinda, stage a simply mind-blowing free street party throughout the festive month of February. Nothing that one might have experienced in a fashionable Brazilian club in Barcelona or Paris, or even in the streets of Notting Hill, could ever come remotely close to it.

 
Galo de Madrugada © Alex Robinson

Forró, frevo, maracatu, caboclinho, ciranda, coco, samba, rock, reggae, manguebeat ...there is almost no end to the list of rhythms that fill the streets from dawn to dusk. Not surprisingly, the music that rocks Pernambuco is intrinsically linked to the very particular history of this corner of the Latin American continent. A past full of stories of invading and invaded peoples, revolts and treaties, and finally co-habitation and cultural métissage that have resulted in today’s rich multicultural heritage. Knowing Pernambuco’s history provides one important key to understanding why Pernambucanos are as they are. And why their music is such a vibrant expression of their deeply-rooted sense of identity, their independent nature and their unique mix of the rural and urban, the Amerindian, African and European.

Frevo dancer © Alex Robinson

More than the rhythms, the history, the names and the numbers, carnival is above all about sensations. It is one of the most intense experiences one can ever have the privilege to savour. Life as we know it is put on hold. This is a magical period during which positive energy abounds, time has no meaning and you find yourself carried on a wave of collective pleasure fusing night into day into night with no respect for normal biorhythms or codes.

Carnival is a sweetly hedonistic attack on the senses: a visual cacophony of colours, costumes, and lights; a rhapsody of music resounding out from parades, blocos, stages big and small, bars and improvised soundsystems at every corner; a blur of smells and odours – enticing barbecues of queijo coalho (a divine curd cheese) and chicken brochettes mixed with the inevitable ammonia of street latrines; and a riot of infinite anonymous tactile encounters, so surprisingly respectful and good-natured.

Spontaneity and improvisation are the watchwords for those who truly practise the art of carnival, but there are a few carnival events in Recife everyone makes the effort to catch. One major event takes place early in the morning of the first Saturday when well over a million people head for the traditional Galo da Madrugada, the biggest carnival parade in the whole of Brazil, and according to the Guinness Book of Records, in the world (!), and the official kick-off for carnival. As its name suggests, an oversized cockerel slowly but surely leads the way through the streets of Recife Antigo, followed by a human ocean of people in carnival gear, Trio Eléctricos (the impressive floats invented in Bahía carrying untold megawatts of power and full-scale bands playing for the crowds) and brass band blocos playing the traditional tunes that can be heard time and time again throughout the carnival, a sure way to get everyone dancing. Another highlight of Recife’s festivities is A noite dos tambores silenciosos (the night of the silent drums), when Maracatu groups honour slaves who died in prison. This is an emotional and highly-charged night that this year’s torrential tropical downpours did nothing to quash.

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Hino do Elefante do Olinda

Olinda

During the day, many people head out of Recife to neighbouring Olinda, a UNESCO World Heritage site and colonial gem on the hills overlooking the bay. The atmosphere is very relaxed and children in costume, often cleverly coordinated with those of their parents, abound. By midday, the streets are full of people parading behind their favourite bloco or one of the Bonecos Gigantes do Olinda – giant dolls that often parody well-known artists or politicians - the brightly coloured frevo umbrellas coming in very handy as protection against the near-Equatorial sun. And the costumes!…some glamorous, others extremely witty and all superbly imaginative.

Olinda carnival couple © Marushka

Recife Antigo

Recife Antigo, the old and by far prettiest if somewhat destitute part of the city, surrounded by the Rio Capibaribe and many bridges (Dutch, so I’m told), is where most of the evening’s entertainment is to be found. The praças are filled with a multitude of Polos (stages) on which a quite mind-bogglingly vast and varied number of acts and artists are programmed. Wandering through the streets, letting oneself be enticed by the wealth of sounds, sights and smells from all directions, is clearly the thing to do. But one inevitably ends up at some point in the most central position in Recife – Marco Zero square

Recife Antigo © Alex Robinson

This year its impressive Polo Recife stage boasted some of the top names: Lenine, Alceu Valença, Geraldo Azevedo, Maria Rita, Elba Ramalho, SpokFrevo Orquesta, Mundo Livre S/A (with Manu Chao and Eugene Hurtz from Gogol Bordello as guests), Nação Zumbi and Siba e a Fuloresta. Other hotspots included the Polo Mangue where home boy DJ Dolores gave the crowd something to dance about alongside his special guest, French DJ and radio personality Rémy Kolpa Kopoul, celebrating his 60th birthday in extravagant style.

Lenine © Marushka

Witnessing a Brazilian artist performing in his homeland is always special, but seeing a Pernambuco artist playing to a crowd in Recife is simply electric. Lenine’s concert was exhilarating, moving, passionate. Alceu Valença, the Recife-raised troubadour whose songs are regional hymns known and loved by everyone, resembles a tropical cocktail of Shakespeare and Mick Jagger. Maria Rita (although not a local lass) could hardly be heard above everyone singing along to her songs! And Manguebeat kings Nação Zumbi had the crowd slamming.

Nacao Zumbi – Blunt of Judah

After carnival, what is left is a collection of unique impressions and sensations, strong yet fleeting memories provoking an unexpected sense of saudade – an old man gallantly defending a space for you amidst slamming youths, a smiling and heartfelt obrigada as you let someone squeeze through the crowd, sharing an umbrella in the pouring rain, the sweet relief of a cool água do coco…and so much more! A word of advice for the novice carnival-goer? Be ready to be caught up in its spell, and to want to go back, again and again!

Marushka

Brazil Travel Guide
Co-inciding with Carnival 2009 the new Footprint Brazil travel guide by writer and photographer Alex Robinson is the only guidebook to thoroughly cover music in the country - alongside practical information and detailed maps – he explores the Brazilian music scene, with recommendations for hundreds of CDs and bands, profiles of all the major venues and many of the key musicians. There are also personal, exclusive recommendations on what to see and do from Brazilian artists themselves - including Carlinhos Brown, Max de Castro and Fred Zeroquatro of Mundo Livre S/A - each of whom tell you where to hear the latest sounds in their home cities.

www.footprintbooks.com

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