At the risk of sounding ignorant may i ask, what are they celebrating?

Originally posted by Tardacus
At the risk of sounding ignorant may i ask, what are they celebrating?

You know? I never really took the time to think about that.

Maybe just a party for the sake of party?

Hello!
I'm a Brazilian and just recovered from my 1-week party.

Although people usually refer to it as "Brazilian Carnival", there are two different kinds of carnival.

For example, the carnival most of you see on the news is basically the Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and Olinda ones and the focus is mainly on the organized parades, where all the "partially" naked women go on the top of those special cars.

The truth is, for most of us Brazilians in our 20-30's, Carnival is an open air party, where we listen to many kinds of music (no, it's far from being only Samba), drink all day and where guys go on flirting with as many girls as they manage to. The most famous place for this is are the states of Minas Gerais and the city of Rio de Janeiro.

The origin of Carnival dates back to Greece, around 600-520 B.C. It was a period when the Greeks thanked their Gods for the fertility of the land. Through time it changed a lot but I can assure you the Carnival in Brazil has none of the historical meaning. It is viewed as a period of party and happines, where all we want to do is have a good time. It is a common saying around here that the new year only starts after this week.

I can say anyone should experience our carnival at least once.