Here I want to talk about something very
interesting. Is there carnival in England?
Is there carnival in the United States?
And what about Guyana, former British
Guyana in South America. A Brazilian goes to England and expects that there'll be
carnival in February, but then it's
March and no carnival, then comes April and no
carnival, in May no carnival, but then
comes November, and on the 5th of
November he sees a parade in the streets
of London on Guy Fawkes Day.
What is the Guy Fawkes Day? Guy Fawkes
was an English Catholic soldier that put
barrels of powder to explode the British
Parliament and kill King James I
(a protestant) and the other members of
parliament. He had already put twenty
barrels of powder, but he was discovered
and sentenced to death for high treason
and conspiracy against the State and the
king; he was tortured, gutted and burned.
Well... this celebration seems a carnival parade
and people wear masks, including the mask of Guy Fawkes, his effigies burned in the streets, but it's a festival to celebrate the deliverance of this catastrophe.
You may recognize this mask that now has some relation with rebellion and
terrorism from the film "V for Vendetta" - V for "Vengeance". Here we have the worldwide
known carnival in Rio on the 25th of
February, it's a very expensive party
sometimes called "The Biggest Show on
Earth"
and people come from all over the world
to admire this incredible parade. The
music, the dancers, the fancy dresses, the
floats,
etc... it began in old times as a
festival to drink wine
and eat meat, to dance and celebrate, but
nowadays became an incredible parade
like this. And here we have something
closer to the Brazilian Carnival, it's in
USA, mainly in New Orleans and it's called
Mardi Gras (that in French means Fat
Tuesday)
it's a beautiful and fancy parade with
dances and fancy dresses (or "costumes"
as they say in the USA) music, and people
also drink and eat a lot, it began as a
festival with this same purpose, once
people would have to fast during the
season of Lent. Mardi Gras in USA may last
from the 25th of February to the 5th of
March. I've seen this "clown" in many
pictures, curious!!! I would really like to
know who he is, or what it means?! And here
we have something that in my opinion is
the closest to the Brazilian Carnival -
Mashramani, although it looks more
tribal, more indigenous, it's a parade in
the streets of Georgetown the capital of
Guyana on the 23rd of February, two days
before the official Carnival in Rio, you
will see a parade with fancy dresses
similar to some worn in Rio de Janeiro
you will listen to music, people will
dance in the streets, there will be music
floats, you will see white girls, Indians,
and mulattos, that's it, although it's
not as big as Carnival in Rio, it's
growing and becoming
even more beautiful and incredible every
year, and attracting tourists from many
parts of the world. If you could spend
carnival in one of these countries being
a Brazilian, an Englishman or an English
woman, an America or a Guyanese... where
would you like to celebrate and spend
carnival?
