When someone (that is not Brazilian) thinks about Carnival they tend to think about Rio de Janeiro, its „ string“ ladies and the „Escola de Samba“. But what they miss is all the cultural richness that the Carnival from other regions of Brazil have to offer.
I will make a serie of posts that talks about other cities that do a great job when it comes to party and make this Carnival ”economy” even bigger.
Carnaval and Salvador: The biggest street party you’ll ever hear about!
The Carnival itself has its origin in Greece, where they used to party to celebrate the fertility of the earth. It was brought to Brazil by the Portuguese, as a pagan party in the 17th century, and happened before the fasting with a meaning of freedom that has spread and is now rooted in the Brazilian Carnival and culture.
In Salvador this big party evolved from “social class” difference: the street carnival versus the club carnival (very popular in during the 60’s) but it turned out to become an inversion of the “status quo”, a big street party, where the social division stays temporarily discontinued.
You might be asking yourself how this party takes place. It starts on a Thursday, and then it follows five days of carnival, from Friday to Wednesday. But, with all the events that happens before and after the “official” party, it can be extended for up to twelve days.
The party takes place in several places of the city :Campo Grande and Barra- Ondina , where the blocos (a truck with a famous band on top of it ) do an enormous parade ,and Pelourinho, where a kind of “Vintage Carnival” takes place, celebrating like in the old times.
The “Carnival Blocos” are the centre and the big star of the Carnival from Salvador, they have different aesthetics, musical and can also be religious, bringing their African- Brazilian religious to Carnival.
The best thing that you have in the Carnival from Salvador is the freedom to choose how you want to enjoy the party: from the TV, from the window of a friend’s house (that lives in one of the tracks), from the street together with the(2,5million) big crowd or from a fancy Camarote, that offers from massage to a flat rate of drinks and food.
Some numbers of the “Carnival Economy”:
*600.000 tourists passed by Salvador’s Carnival (which 10% come from other countries)
*2 million visitants in the whole State
*95% of the Hotel Occupation
*Activities linked with tourism: 5% of the GDP
*Carnaval from Bahia, Ceara and Pernambuco brings 1,6 millions to the Northeast region
*Tourist brings R$1 billion (circa €250.000.000) to the State
⇒Tips if you wanna visit Bahia but hates Carnaval:
Praia do Forte (80 km from Salvador)
Morro de Sao Paulo ( taking a Catamaran to reach the Island)
Barra Grande
Chapada Diamantina ( Beautiful caves and Rivers and NO parties)
Perola Oliveira
Sources:
http://www.corecon-ba.org.br/?p=7464
Go Dream & Go Travel 
Very interesting. I learned a lot about the Brazilian carnival from this blog. Thanks and keep up the good work!
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Muito bem. Eu gostei.
Too much people to get good close-ups.
Have good day!
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