Carnival in Bahia, a state in Northeastern Brazil differs substantially from Carnival in Rio de Janeiro (see article) . To start with the music styles are not the same for the two carnivals. In Bahia there are many different rhythms, which include samba, samba-reggae, axé, etc, while in Rio there is a mainly just a multitude of samba styles: samba-enredo, samba de bloco, and the funk-samba, in addition to the marchinhas played by the bands in the streets.
The black population of Bahia tended to commemorate Carnival in its own traditions, highly influenced by Yoruba characteristics, with a great deal of dancing in the streets and playing instruments. This type of Carnival celebration was deemed “primitive” and old fashioned by the upper-class white elite, and so those groups were banned from participating in the official Bahia Carnival, which ended up being predominately conservative and elite. These groups ignored the ban and continued to have their dances in the streets.
The Carnival in Bahia is such a large street party, you have to just see it to believe it!
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Filed under: Carnival Tuesday Series, International/World Carnivals Tagged: Bahia, bands, brazil, Carnival, parade 
