Bloquinhos de Carnaval

[Guest Post by Heloise Delavenne in Belo Horizonte, Brasil] Every year, for a few days during the Carnaval, the entire population of Brazil becomes crazy! This event is an amusing experience even if you are not a Brazilian citizen.

Carnaval occurs during summertime, as we are in the Southern Hemisphere. During Carnaval, everyone looks forward to going down in the streets disguised to dance at the sound of the local bands. It lasts, at least four days. It’s a city party, and everyone is invited!

Belo Horizonte, where I live, is not known as the Carnaval capital, but this town of three million inhabitants has the famous tradition of the bloquinhos de Carnaval as in Rio de Janeiro.

The bloquinhos are bands that gather people to dance in the street and the crowd follows for hours and hours. It is such a fancy environment. This weekend I went out behind a bloquinho near my place in Belo Horizonte. I was drawing so I didn’t enter the heart of the gathering initially. All around the group appeared small businesses, such as a man selling ice cream from a cart with a yellow umbrella. And it reminds me to drink a lot of water, the afternoon heat was intense enough!

It was very challenging to sketch, all the colors, the movement, the dance… Your traces should be done very fast! I managed to catch up some funny fantasies, a mother, and her daughter both with halos, like angels, a tall Viking…

 My friend Raquel was using a Venetian mask, minimalist but lovely!

A young lady looked tired and sat near us with a flower tiara…

The gathering continued it’s collective walk, almost one kilometer along the street. It was well organized, with a few police officers accompanying the party…

 I love the Carnaval in Brazil, let’s party!

Heloise Delavenne Garcia is a French psychiatrist who loves to sketch everyday life. She moved to Belo Horizonte, Brazil, four years ago and is a member of Urban Sketchers Brasil. You can see more of Heloise’s sketches on her blog or Facebook.