What is Carnafacul? Until about three weeks ago I had no idea. Until about three days ago, I had only some idea. But now, I have experienced Carnafacul. And let me just say... it's possible that never again will I have the opportunity to experience something quite like that...
Carnafacul was created in 2004. It is the largest university event in Brazil and has around 200,000 people that attend. It s hosted in cities around Brazil but I went to the one in Sao Paulo. I purchased my ticket (quite pricey!) a month in advance. On the day of the celebration, I met up with some friends at around 11:00 and we made the huge trek to the stadium where Carnaval is hosted every year. There were so many people trying to get there that we waited hours in the line of cars to enter. However, it's Brazil so this didn't stop the party from starting... there was a celebrating in the street with music playing and people dancing. We arrived around 16:00 to the parking lot.
Before entering, we had to put on yellow “abadas” which are special shirts they use for Carnafacul. Each event has a different bright, crazy color. Then, we had our ids checked to ensure that we are college students and we were allowed to enter. To the side, you can see us dancing and getting ready in the parking lot before we entered the party with our matching shirts.
Never before have I seen something so crazy. The soles of my shoes were literally ripped off by the crowd, I was caked in mud by the end of the night, and my hair had certainly seen better days… But it was a night to remember.
Below is a video from last year’s Carnafacul for you to see what type of craziness I’m talking about. Throughout the night, I lost my phone, money and house key. But somehow, it was still worth it. I'm here in Brazil to experience new things, and this is certainly an unusual experience I'm adding to the list.
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