Carnaval!

How do you describe Carnaval.....crazy!
Thousands of people partying, drinking, dancing, playing music, men dressed as women, drums, horns, dancers.  Adults and kids alike, the parents like to dress their kids up-fairies, bahian dress, indian chiefs, spider man and whatever else they can find.  This is the time of the year when men love to dress as women, wrap their heads in specially designed towels and wear togas, they call themselves "filo de Ghandy"  (sons of Ghadi-I think Ghandy is Ghandi mispelled and never corrected).
Carnaval takes place in three main areas or blocos, and they differ.  Pelourhino, the historic district is quieter (its all relative), no amplifiers or electronics, just local bands and dancers.  It is much more grassroots, with the costurmes often being homemade.  Dozens of bands of all sizes and shapes, drum bands, horns, horns and drums, the Japanese drum band is amazing-the energy and performance is high octane!  Many bands have costumed dancers which lead them, some in fancy dress, some in traditional Bahian dress, lots of men dressed as women, gladiators, natives, and whatever else they can think of.  Some, I am not sure what they are supposed to be, but they have alot of fun.
In Campo Grande and the Barra, it is more flashy.  They have huge trucks with dozens of massive speakers which amplify the band's music called trio electrico.  They are so loud that you can feel it thumping in your chest, no one suffers from V fib here!  There are alot of big names, yesterday, we went to the Barra and several of the bands had huge followings.  First there is the large (bigger than a tractor trailer)  all fitted out for the band, they play on the top and have stages which move up and down for the main singer.  And tons of speakers.  It is followed by abada, who are followers who pay to follow the trio, they wear "uniform" shirts, each trio has their own followers who wear a different shirt.  They are called pipoca or popcorn as they jump up and down like popcorn.  They dance in an area behind the trio which is roped off, and only those in the shirts can dance there.  If you want to pay more, then you can follow in another trio just for fans, no band.  They drink and dance and often throw scarves and other beer sponsored souvenirs to the crowds.  If that is not your thing, then you can watch from the streets and dance away or pay to stay in a grandstand type area to watch the trios go by.  They move very slowly and it takes hours to see them all, they usually start mid afternoon and go until midnight.  Then there are live bands are multiple venues around the area, which often start at midnight.

 A typical band in the Pelourhino

 They love to dress their kids up, they are quite cute, unlike the men who dress up

 Police presence is everywhere, at times, it feels like you are in a war zone, armed police and police helicopters constantly flying overhead, sometimes it seems like they were going to land on the rooftop bar of our hotel

 A small trio electrico

Women in traditional Bahian dress

Of course, there are all the vendors selling food, souvenirs, and all kind of neon gear, lots of masks, headdresses, pom poms, etc.  Of course there is beer and other drinks, everywhere, cerveza is 3 for 5 Real!  cheaper than water.  You can buy anything.
Sorry not alot of pictures, as you don't carry your camera or anything of value when you go out into the street.
Ciao
Kim and Dan