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Carnival of Olinda

The Carnivals of Recife and Olinda are mixed in the consolidation of commitment to the reveler, because the festival focus on popular participation.

Carnival of Olinda

Article available in: PT-BR ESP

Last update: 03/03/2023

By: Claudia M. de Assis Rocha Lima - Researcher at the Joaquim Nabuco Foundation - PhD in Sciences of Religion

The Carnivals of Recife and Olinda are mixed in the consolidation of commitment to the reveler, because the festival focus on popular participation. The same sounds echo in the sister cities, becoming an immense hall during Carnival where frevo is the music and passo is the dance. The Carnival of Olinda has no Sambódromo, the slopes of the upper city watch contemplatively the passage of Clubes, Troças, Blocos, Ursos, and all the spontaneousness and improvisation of the revelers. Carnival associations parade between the streets of Recife and Olinda, making the Carnival legitimate in its origins, the street carnival.

VIRGENS DE OLINDA

Virgens de Olinda (Virgins of Olinda) starts the Olinda Carnival, a week before the official date of the Carnival, this bloco (street band) was founded in 1953, and is composed exclusively of men dressed as women. The Carnival Bloco Anárquico das Virgens de Olinda was founded by seacoast goers. During the parade, which takes place on the main avenue of Bairro Novo, there are contests to determine the most conceited, naughtiest, most charming, and oldest of virgins. Olinda’s most projected and traditional carnival associations are: Clube Carnavalesco Misto Elefante, founded in 1952; Troça Carnavalesca Mista Pitombeiras dos Quatro Cantos, founded in 1947; Troça Carnavalesca Mista Marim dos Caetés, founded in 1982; Clube de Alegoria Misto Homem da Meia-noite (boneco gigante), founded in 1932; among others.

OLINDA CARNIVAL ASSOCIATIONS

Clube Misto de Lenhadores - founded in 1907
Clube Misto Vassourinhas - founded in 1912
Bloco Flor da Lira - founded in 1976
Troça Mulher do Dia - founded in 1967
Troça Menino da Tarde - founded in 1975
Troça Ceroula  - founded in 1967
Troça A Porca  - founded in 1967
Troça A Burra  - founded in 1967
Segura a Coisa - founded in 1975
Eu Acho é Pouco - founded in 1976
A Zebra - founded in 1976
Siri na Lata - founded in 1976
O Bacalhau do Batata - founded in 1965
Afoxé - Araodé - founded in 1982
Afoxé - Grupo Afro Axé da Lua - founded in 1988
Afoxé Irmandade dos Orixás - founded in 1990
Afoxé Alafin Oyo - founded in 1986
Afoxé Oduduá - founded in 1990
Maracatudo (maracatu) - founded in 1990

These associations are all active in the Olinda Carnival, among many others that participate in carnival celebrations.

 

 

Recife, July 21, 2003.

sources consulted

CARNAVAl de Olinda. Foto nesse texto. Disponível em: <http://carnaval.ne10.uol.com.br/2016/01/07/em-olinda-e-recife-tudo-vira-bloco-conheca-a-origem-de-alguns-nomes-curiosos/>. Acesso em: 9 ago. 2016.

 

how to quote this text

LIMA, Cláudia M.de Assis Rocha. Olinda Carnival. In: Pesquisa Escolar. Recife: Fundação Joaquim Nabuco, 2003. Available at: https://pesquisaescolar.fundaj.gov.br/en/artigo/carnival-olinda/. Access on: month day year. (Ex.: Aug. 6, 2020.)