CARNIVAL 2014 IN SALVADOR DA BAHIA, BRAZIL!

(aka "The World's Biggest Party"!)

 

This year's order of the blocos and afoxés on Salvador's three Carnival circuits is listed at the bottom of this page!!!

 

News: Carnival in Bahia (as it is more traditionally referred to) as of later years has had a theme. The theme chosen for Carnival 2014 is...ready?..."Carnaval de Salvador é Diferente"..."Salvador's Carnival is Different". Can ya dig it? About as poetic as a brick! Presumably whoever thought it up meant to say that Salvador's Carnival is different from Rio de Janeiro's...and with the rise of the trio elétrico (explained below, if you're not familar with the term or story) there was and remains a great divergence in the two carnivals' fundamental styles.

African Carnival in Salvador Makes a Comeback!

But, importantly, there's a beautiful movement now though (also explained in more detail below) -- on certain days -- to emphasizing the importance of Salvador's afoxés and blocos afros. Saravá!

 

Viva the Afoxés & Blocos Afros!!!

 

And More Great News: Friday and Saturday nights on Salvador's Avenidas (the older, more traditional Carnival circuit), the emphasis will be on new musical entities more human-sized than the monstrous trio elétricos, with much more interesting music than the axé/pop which has come to dominate so much of Carnival in Salvador. In a city brimming with brilliant music, this is an absolute no-brainer! All that was needed was the right person in the right place (and with a brain) to make it happen, and in Guilherme Bellintani we now have one. Finalmente!!!

Carnival in Bahia is it, baby! That is, of course, if parties and crowds are your thing. Nowhere else comes close. Carnival Bahia is not nubile women in feathers high up on floaters à la Carnival Rio. It's YOU out there on the streets doing it 'til you drop.

Carnaval (as it's spelled in Portuguese) 2014 starts Thursday, February 27th, and it runs through Tuesday, March 4th -- officially. Unofficially (and actually) it runs to the morning of Ash Wednesday, March 5th, and then continues in the arrastão (roundup) of Timbalada, which starts Wednesday morning at the Farol da Barra and winds its way along Avenida Oceanica to Ondina. The arrastão, which started over a decade ago and was only Timbalada for the first couple of years, has now seen other people and blocos jump on the the bandwagon (quite literally). It's grown to include at least three trios and blocos, winding up early Wednesday afternoon, and then there you are at Ondina's lovely beach, where the party continues...

  The three Carnival Circuits are:

•  The Campo Grande - Praça Castro Alves Circuit, also called the “Osmar” Circuit, or simply the “Avenidas”.

•  The Barra - Ondina Circuit, also called the “Dodô” Circuit.