Carnival

Carnival typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party. People often dress up during the celebrations, which mark an overturning of daily life.

What is Carnival?

Carnival is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February.

What makes the date for Carnival each year so hard to calculate is the fact that it linked to the Christian Easter calendar and Easter is very difficult to calculate. The difficulty lies in the fact that Easter is calculated by finding the first full moon. This makes the date vary up to 34 days! Carnival itself is linked to Ash Wednesday and Ash Wednesday is 46 days before Easter.

When is Carnival?

The Lenten period of the Liturgical year Church calendar, being the six weeks directly before Easter, was marked by fasting and other pious or penitential practices. Traditionally during Lent, no parties or other celebrations were held, and people refrained from eating rich foods, such as meat, dairy, fats and sugar. The forty days of Lent, recalling the biblical account of the forty days that Jesus spent in the wilderness, serve to mark an annual time of turning. In the days before Lent, all rich food and drink had to be disposed of. The consumption of this, in a giant party that involved the whole community, is thought to be the origin of Carnival.

Why?

How?People celebrate Carnival often dressing up during the

celebrations, which mark an overturning of daily life.

Where?Carnival in Portugal is celebrated throughout the country,

it’s most famous in Ovar, Madeira, Loulé, Nazaré, and Torres Vedras. The carnivals in Podence and Lazarim incorporate pagan traditions such as the careto, while the Torres Vedras celebration is probably the most typical Portuguese carnival.

Carnival is celebrated throughout Portugal, but each region has its own traditions and customs.

Carnival in Famalicão

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdYPgtaYszM

In Famalicão many people celebrate Carnival by dressing up during the celebrations and spending the night with friends on the streets.

Kids have a parade too.

Work done by:

- Ana Luísa Costa – Nº3- Pedro Pereira – Nº22

Turma: 10º D

Bibliography:

• Wikipedia.org