| Carnival in Portugal Carnival season (this year 2-4th March) is celebrated all over our country but it is more traditional in certain areas where there are big parades on Sunday before Carnival day and on Tuesday, which traditionally is Carnival Day. In these parades people usually take the chance to criticize the government and to expose social problems. |
 Together with this criticism, where huge public caricaturized figures are shown, there are Samba schools, by Brazilian influence, and groups that perform some dances and songs created for the season and the parades. Young children and adults alike wear masks or simply wear a different outfit. |
The following text describes a bit of “our” Carnival in Trás-os-Montes
and also Carnival in Torres Vedras and Madeira Island.
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Carnival traditions in “Trás os Montes”: It is an event celebrated in some villages or towns around "Tras-os-Montes" in the districts of Bragança, Macedo de Cavaleiros (especially Podence) and Vimioso. There are some creatures which characterize Carnival traditions like Caretos, morte (death), diabo (devil), censura (censorship).
Careto is known as an old Celtic tradition. It is one of the oldest Carnival traditions in the country. They are masked young men dressed in suits made of yellow, red, and green wool quilts and they wear brass, leather or wooden masks and belts with rattles. They come from every part of the villages to join in groups and they run and shout excitedly, scaring the people and “assualting” all the wine cellars. In the towns, namely Bragança, young boys also dressed as Caretos, death, devil and censorship walk through the city, armed with belts, whips and sickles, chase and hit girls and women. Some may think this is cruel and sexist but this is a tradition and the girls get along well with the spirit of Carnival and like playing with these characters because of their jokes. |
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Carnival in Madeira: Madeira Carnival is known all around the world. It suffers a heavy Brazilian influence and during the festivities days there are two main parades, which are very different from each other. The first one always takes place on the Saturday of Carnival weekend; this is a lot more sophisticated as there are lots of people involved, such as samba groups, with their colorful costumes, that walk/dance through Funchal streets to the sound of Samba music, spreading an ambiance that evokes the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The second parade is called trapalhão. It is an older tradition and usually takes place all over the island. It “floods” the streets of Funchal during terça-feira Gorda (Shrove Tuesday) and as this marks the end of the Carnival season, everyone can take part of it. |
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| Carnival in Torres Vedras: The carnival of Torres Vedras counts with massive and spontaneous participation of the citizens. In the parades you can find carnival floats, carnival groups, "matrafonas" (men dressed as women) and the famous “cabeçudos” (giant doll heads) accompanied by marching bands. But, in this parade many of the participants are masked people that join the party and that dance in the free space between the floats and other groups. Torres Vedras is known as the birth place of the modern carnival in Portugal. |
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