Rio Carnaval: Banda from the balcony

Posted Monday, February 04, 2008, 2:49 PM by Lonely Planet

Our invitation comes through an emissary, a handsome medical student named Vinicius. We're to be at Rogerio's apartment at four in the afternoon, in time for a glass of cold prosecco before the confusao of Banda de Ipanema, with its tens of thousands of fans, passes along the legendary beachfront.

Sometime after five, the Banda de Ipanema comes in sight, and soon the drums and brass nearly manage to drown out the blasting of Rogerio's Beyonce DVD. Founded as a protest against the military dictatorship of the 1960s, the banda has become the rallying ground for Rio's gay carnaval-goers.



Last year I marched with the band, looking up with envy at those who waved from luxurious apartments as I fought back both claustrophobia and heat stroke. Within minutes, my wallet was picked, and when looked down, still hoping I'd perhaps just dropped it, I saw dozens of other wallets like so many discarded pelts littering the ground. Depressed, I told my dear companion Ricky I was calling it a day. But sulking during Carnaval is simply not done. In the end, we got home at 8am with burns from the early-rising sun.

After the banda has passed, I ask my host for a pen to note some of the things I've seen, but he tells me he's at a party and can't be bothered. This seals it. Next year, if I'm lucky enough to be in Rio on the Saturday of Carnaval, I'll be there in the middle of confusao rather than looking down on it.

- Robert Landon is co-author of Lonely Planet's Brazil guide.

Labels: "Festivals and events", The Americas

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