Carnival
National Holiday in Brazil
The Carnival is an annual festival in Brazil held 4 days before Ash Wednesday. The Monday and Tuesday are holidays. The festival marks the start of Lent.
Lent
During the 40 days before Easter, Roman Catholics are supposed to abstain from all bodily pleasures, including the consumption of meat.
This is intended to remember the fasting of Jesus, who spent 40 days in the desert before beginning his ministry.
More information on Lent and it's associated festivals
The carnival can hardly be described as a solemn affair, and it shares it's excessive nature with similar European celebrations and Mardi Gras, where the festivals are a opportunity for final indulgence before lent itself.
It is likely that these celebrations can be traced back to older pagan feasts celebrating the arrival of spring.
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