Carnaval Brasileiro has been celebrated in Austin for 50 years, featuring the color, music and pageantry of Mardi Gras, and it will soon be back for another year.
What is known as a multi-day national summer festival in Brazil comes to Austin for one winter night that is reportedly among the city’s wildest parties.
It began in the mid-‘70s when the University of Texas was home to many Brazilian students studying English away from home during Carnaval. About 200 of them and their new-found friends began their own version of the party that has become an Austin tradition. Over the years, the number of revelers has grown and Carnaval has had to move several times to larger venues. Attendance in the 1980s grew to as many as 7,000 revelers dancing to the beat of local drummers pounding out the rhythm of samba, the distinctive sound of Carnaval.
In more recent years, the venues have evolved to include huge video screens that can focus on the many elaborate and sometimes risqué costumes, painted faces, and unique performers.
Since the 1980s, several artists have contributed to Carnaval with classic poster and T-shirt designs depicting the dance party. Groups that organize large events such as this often seek out printing services to use art in their branding.
Carnaval Brasileiro will be held February 22, at The Speakeasy on Congress Avenue in Austin. Doors open at 8:00 pm and the music starts at 9:00 pm, providing five straight hours of dancing for those aged 21 and over.
