Once upon a time was a great time to remember in this far, far away country. This country had many, many towns. Every one of them had its own culture and unique ways of expressing itself. However, there was a few things that the habitants of these unique towns celebrated the same way, and at the same time. One of those things was….the Carnaval!
The Carnaval was a time to share with family and friends. It was celebrated during summer time and around January and February. Even with only the sound of the word Carnaval, anyone in the country would feel happy and full of joy. It was truly a time to enjoy family, friends and good food. Extended family members would travel from far away distances to join the festivities. During the Carnaval; the main attractions were the Carrozas, Costumes, Corso and Parade.
The Carrozas were one of the main attractions during this event. The Carrozas resembled big stages on wheels, or, some times, they would be tied to pick up trucks. Either way people would get very creative when building these big floats. The Carrozas were built based on different themes. For instance, book characters, important people at the time, nature, countries around the world, etc. One time the theme of the entire Carnaval was “Around the World” so the designers of the floats got very creative and excited about this theme. Every float had a country to represent and it was a magnificent sight to behold.
There were many elaborate costumes worn by the direct participants of the Carnaval. When the theme was “Around the World”, every town had its own country to represent, and the people and color and songs and everything was exclusive of the country the town was representing g at that time. The costumes were super elaborate, and usually the family members had hand-made these costumes from scratch. It would take them an entire year to finish. Usually the children within the family were involved and mothers were the ones making these extraordinary pieces of clothing. I am talking about a time when sophisticated sewing machines did not exist, and if they did, these talented and creative people could not afford them, and yet the sight was breath taking.
Corso was always at night and it was during this time when the host in each town would give the big opening and with loud music, controlled traffic and families gathering, he would open the Corso! At the same time, and with one goal, the hosts around this far, far away country would give opening to the Carnaval! Before the Carrozas and colorful clothes of the people would start the parade, there was always some important and famous singer invited to the event to make the evening sparkle even more! People that were not on the stage were eating in the restaurants along the traffic controlled streets. Children would be playing with water or with foam. It was the custom during Corso , among children, and sometimes adults, to play with water and/or foam. When the parade started it was a delightful sight. It always began with the Fire Department, with the loud sirens along with the police on horses. There were feathers, shiny clothes, big hats with different colors, clowns, ballerinas, smiling faces and children everywhere. There was music and dances they choreographed themselves and had practiced all year long. The whole feast would last for hours and even more.
Everybody knew that the parade was ending when the kids would shout, “I can hear the Firemen’s siren, mom!” Nobody wanted that time to come. But, it did. While the Firemen were leaving, the little children followed it running, trying to touch the Fire truck. It was the sign that everything was over. Each family started to head home thinking about next year’s Carnaval, where the magic would come around again!
