Sunday February 14th 2010

I can’t remember the last time I came home at dawn. It was probably over 20 years ago when Steve was still in the Royal Navy and we had been to a Naval Ball.

Well, last night was Carnival and so we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to Samba until dawn with about 30,000 other Paulistanos.

The Carnival parade is a competition between the many Samba schools here. Division One consists of 14 teams (7 on each night) and is held on Friday and Saturday night of Carnival weekend. They each spend a year getting ready for their one hour and five minutes of fame. There is a Samba Queen for each team who is usually very easy to spot because she is the one wearing the least amount of clothing and is surrounded by camera crews capturing her every move. There are five themed floats and literally thousands of people dancing in the parade.

The Samba schools of Sao Paulo started in the Favelas (shanty towns) and each team has to attract local support and sponsorship. The prestige of winning is huge and they take it incredibly seriously. There are judges along the parade route and the rules are very strict. Half a point deducted here and there can cost a school the championship. I heard that one year a team had half a point deducted because one participant had the wrong colour shoes and that cost it the title.

The Sambodromo is a specially constructed stadium, used exclusively for the event. I can’t actually think when else it could or would be used. Imagine the finishing straight of a Grand Prix circuit, about half a mile long and with bleachers on either side and huge stadium lighting overhead. The bleachers were made out of concrete and when I saw them I thought – “ugh, I should have brought more to sit on.” But sitting is not part of the event. The minute the first school started their parade the music started and everyone rose up and started dancing in the stands.
It was amazing to say the least.

People were handing out flags to wave for each team but by far the most support was a team called “Gavioes da Fiel” sponsored by one of the local football teams - Corinthians. They clearly have the most money to spend and it was spectacular to say the least. Ronaldo, their star player, was centre stage on their float and probably drew more cheers than their Samba Queen. The team colours of black and white were interspersed with silver and every other conceivable colour, and every costume had at least one football adorning it. It was mind-blowingly spectacular.

It is hard to describe in prose the effect of around five thousand people dressed in the most amazing costumes, riding on the most amazing floats that I have ever seen, dancing and singing. It makes the Disney parade look like amateur dramatics. Each team has their own Samba song and everyone in the team learns the words and belts it out. The words are published in the program so by the time the team has reached the end, most of the crowd were singing along. I have to say that listening to the same song over and over again for 65 minutes could have been a bit boring but it absolutely wasn’t.

The whole thing was good humoured, although there were some pretty wasted people being carried out at the end. The endless flow of beer was clearly having effects on some people but it was all pretty good natured.

We went with an organized group but I am seriously thinking that if my Portuguese is any good next year I may take part in the parade. (The only problem will be stopping Steve joining me – he can’t dance and can’t sing, and even worse he won’t admit it). You simply have to apply to one of the teams, buy the costume, learn the song in advance and go to at least one practice to learn the dance steps. It must be a truly phenomenal experience.

So, having set out at 8 o’clock last night, the first parade was at ten thirty and I am sorry to say that we left before the last one at around 6 am. The dawn was creeping over the horizon and I was beginning to ache. That said, the stadium was still about half full so plenty of die-hards to the end.

We arrived home at around 6.30 am, but by far the biggest smile of the night goes to Marcelo when we told him he could take the rest of the day off.