What do Mardi Gras, Venetian masks, and massive parades have in common? Carnival.
This big, colourful festival enchants people in countries all over the world and is celebrated in the most diverse ways.
On European Day of Languages, the MFL corridor was alive with the fun and festivity of Rio Carnival. The sound of Samba filled the air as students filed into LN1 for the “Make your own Carnival Headdress” workshop, and although the workshop was open to all students, the sign-up sheet was FULL of Year 10s!
Carnival is the main festivity in Brazil which is known as “The Greatest Show on Earth.” Carnival is an annual Catholic festival that occurs leading up to Lent. Like Mardi Gras and other Carnivals from around the world, it’s a big celebration of the food and pleasures that one must give up during Lent. However, we celebrated early to coincide with EDoL!
In Rio, the Carnival performers pay particular attention to the type of costume they will display. The preparation and decision-making process can sometimes take months! Thankfully, our year 10s managed to create a headdress in just 30 minutes to celebrate EDoL, using card, paper feathers, pom-poms, gems… and a lot of creativity!
Once we were finished, we donned our headdresses and paraded out of the MFL corridor to the lively, upbeat tempo of ‘Fireball’ by Pitbull – the PERFECT song to embody the spirit of Carnival.