By stealing myself away to Rio, I was putting myself in the hands of the party pros. The first carnival in Rio took place in 1723, a relatively civilised date dreamed up as one final chance to gorge before the 40 frugal days of Lent began. (The word “carnaval” is derived from the Latin carne vale, “farewell to the meat”.) Brazilians, true to form, dedicated themselves to this final blowout so seriously that the Rio Carnaval steadily swelled into its modern-day incarnation, a six-day bacchanal that daily brings two million revellers to the streets of Rio. There is no bigger carnival on the planet. And there’s no more democratic celebration, with festivities running the gamut from opulent balls to gritty block parties.
This story is from the November 2019 edition of Gourmet Traveller.
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This story is from the November 2019 edition of Gourmet Traveller.
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