Rio de Janeiro Events & Festivals

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Rio de Janeiro Events & Festivals

"Rio de Janeiro Culture

Music

The official song of Rio de Janeiro is "Cidade Maravilhosa", which means "marvelous city". The song is considered the "civic anthem" of Rio, and is always the favourite song during Rio's Carnival in February. Rio de Janeiro is a very important place when studying the urban music of Brazil. They are responsible for the creation of Funk Carioca, which means funk from Rio de Janeiro. This music became a representation of the current problems residents faced in Rio. It became the largest movement in the city because it gave an outlet to many young people to voice their feelings and make money at the same time.

Rio was eternalized in the hit song "Garota de Ipanema" (The Girl from Ipanema) composed by Antonio Carlos Jobim and recognized worldwide and recorded by Astrud Gilberto and João Gilberto, Frank Sinatra, and Ella Fitzgerald. This is also the main key song of the bossa nova, a musical genre that was born in Rio. A genre unique to Rio and Brazil as a whole is Funk Carioca. While samba music continues to act as the national unifying agent in Rio, Funk Carioca found a strong community following in Brazil. First introduced in the 1970s to refer to modern black pop music from the United States, such as James Brown, it evolved in the 1990s to describe a variety of electronic music associated with the current US black music scene including hip hop, modern soul, and house music. Recognizable by the bass of the beat box, funk music could be heard in the alley ways of lower-class neighborhoods in Rio throughout the mid-1990s. Dancing and interclass mixing were significant in the "funk movement."

Samba and Carnival.

Although no longer the capital city of Brazil, Rio has always been the symbol of Brazil's nationality and diverse social structure. While Samba is the national unifying agent, as Brazilian national politics developed in Rio, other forms of music were implemented into the national Culture of Brazil. Brazil's return to democracy in 1985 after over 20 years if military authoritarian rule, and the subsequent end of rampant censorship, allowed for a new freedom of expression which promoted creativity and experimentation in expressive culture. This new expressive ability facilitated to access to better economic conditions and relative economic stability. This economic stability allowed for the consumption of imported goods such as hip hop. Commercial and cultural imports from Europe and North America have often influenced Brazil's own cultural output. For example, the hip hop that has stemmed from New York is localied into various forms of musial production such as Funk Carioca and Brazilian hip hop. Thus, Rio has been the most important site as the melting pot of talented composers and performers of all different musical backgrounds. Democratic renewal also allowed for the recognition and acceptance of this diversification of Brazilian culture.

In some cases, Funk Carioca is also connected to gang territorial dominance in Rio's slums. The gangs fund dance parties, known as bailes, to recruit new members, update each other on local news, and engage in selling drugs. Rio de Janeiro, representing one of the largest urban areas in Brazil, is populated with a medley of ethnic types and identities. This diversity allows for it to be the major site for the country's music industry to thrive. Many active scholars in the study of pop culture, such as Livio Sansone, Samuel Araújo, and Martha Ulhoa and internationally renown recording artists such as Rick Devin are located in the heart of this city, proving it to be an imperative place for any aspiring pop culture artist to be.

More recently, Rio has been an important center for the revival of traditional Samba music, especially around Lapa, an old bohemian neighborhood. This has come closely associated with a revival in Choro music, a traditional form which is mainly instrumental. This revival caters mostly to college students and college educated people and has spun a new generation of mainstream musicians as well as generating renewed interest in a previously marginalized old generation of composers.

Carnival

The Brazilian carnival (Carnaval, in Portuguese) is an annual celebration held 40 days before Easter and marking the beginning of Lent. Rio de Janeiro has many Carnival choices, including the famous Samba school (Escolas de Samba) parades in the sambadrome exhibition centre and the popular blocos de carnaval, which parade in almost every corner of the city. The most famous ones are:

* Cordão do Bola Preta: Parades in the centre of the city. It is one of the most traditional carnavals. In 2008, 500,000 people attended in one day.
* Suvaco do Cristo: Band that parades in the Botanic Garden, directly below the Redeemer statue's arm. The name, in English, translates as 'Christ's armpit', and was chosen for that reason.
* Carmelitas: Band that was supposedly created by nuns, but in fact it is just a theme chosen by the band. It parades in the hills of Santa Teresa, which have very nice views.
* Simpatia é Quase Amor: One of the most popular parades in Ipanema. Translates as 'Friendliness is almost love'.
* Banda de Ipanema: The most traditional in Ipanema. It attracts a wide range of revellers, including families and a wide spectrum of the gay population (notably spectacular drag queens).

In 1840, the first Carnaval was celebrated with a masked ball. As years passed, adorned floats and costumed revelers became a tradition amongst the celebrants. Carnaval is known as a historic root of Brazilian music.

Cultural events

Apart from Carnaval, New Year is also a major event in Rio. It's celebrated with concerts and firework displays all around Rio, the largest one being in Copacabana beach. People wear white clothes, and some of them make offerings to Iemanjá, a deity in many of the Afro-Brazilian religions (e.g. Candomble, Umbanda, Macumba).

There are several significant museums in Rio as well. Among them are the Quinta da Boa Vista (which includes the National Museum of Brazil), the Native Art Museum (primitives, with the largest collection of native paintings in the world), and the Indian Museum.

Rio has an extensive nightlife scene. Clubs like Baronneti, Nuth, and Catwalk are some of the country's best known and frequented by celebrities such as Ronaldo, Calvin Klein, Mick Jagger, and Naomi Campbell."