Carnival 2024 in Salvador: attractions and circuit dates – 01/24/2024 – Tourism

The center of Salvador will be the heart of the party on February 8, the official opening of Carnival. In the early afternoon hours, revelers will come from streets Chile, Carlos Gomes, Avenida Sete and Ladeira da Montanha, historic streets that will be like arteries that pulsate towards Castro Alves square.

On one side of the square, there will be statues of Dodô and Osmar, inventors of the electric trio and Gregório de Matos, the mouth of hell. On the other, the bust of Castro Alves, poet of slaves, with his hand outstretched. On all sides, there will be the memory of Moraes Moreira, symbol of that part of the city.

The sunset will frame the horizon when Ivete Sangalo, BaianaSystem, Carlinhos Brown and Ilê Aiyê will start Carnival in the way it used to end: with a meeting of electric trios.

In 2024, Salvador will revere its traditions. The city will celebrate 50 years of Ilê Aiyê, the first and most important Afro block in the capital of Bahia, a symbol of resistance in culture and politics.

Commanches do Pelô also celebrate half a century on the avenue, Olodum turns 45. Daniela Mercury remembers 40 years of career in the same year that revelers remember the 30th anniversary of Tonho Matéria’s song, which was a seminal hit for Bahian pagodão.

Crowded streets are expected, representing the culmination of a summer that is already one of the busiest in recent years and which should attract approximately 800,000 tourists, injecting around R$2 billion into the city’s economy.

Officially, Carnival begins on February 8th and runs for seven days until Ash Wednesday. In practice, however, a conurbation of festive dates will result in a calendar with street parties between February 1st and 14th.

The anticipated party begins on the first day of the month, with the Lavagem de Itapuã, and continues with the Festa de Iemanjá, which will take to the streets of Rio Vermelho on February 2nd, saluting the queen of the seas.

On the weekend before Carnival, the neighborhoods of Ondina and Barra will host the Fuzuê and Furdunço pre-carnival parades.

On Saturday (3), the streets will open up for cultural and folkloric groups from Salvador, Recôncavo and Baixo-sul, including Caretas de Cairu, Chegança dos Marujos, Barquinha de Bom Jesus dos Pobres and the Zambiapunga cultural group.

The next day, it will be Furdunço’s turn with the parade of mini trios. Bands such as Olodum, Psirico, Jammil and singer Gerônimo take part, but the highlight is the now traditional performance of BaianaSystem, one of the most popular parades of the festive period in Salvador.

On Sunday (4), the center hosts Banho de Mar à Fantasia, which will run through the streets of the old city center to Praia da Preguiça.

The Best Monday in the World, an essay led by Xanddy Harmonia, takes to the avenue the next day. On Tuesday, it will be Leo Santana’s day to command an electric trio on the same route with his Pipoco. On Wednesday, the trios leave and the brass bands enter. And the official party hasn’t even started yet.

From the opening on Thursday, with the symbolic handover of the city’s keys to King Momo, Carnival spreads across the Barra-Ondina, Campo Grande, Pelourinho and Nordeste de Amaralina circuits, in addition to shows spread across different neighborhoods of the city.

This year, the tribute to Afro-Brazilian culture will set the tone for the party and will be present in the parades and circuit decorations. The state government celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Afro blocs with the theme Our Energy is Ancestral. The city hall, in turn, chose Salvador Capital Afro as the theme.

“I’m very happy because finally Salvador is assuming its black face. It’s very nice to say that this is Black Rome, but arriving at the events and it looks like we’re in a European city. The Afro bloc isn’t just about Carnival”, said Antônio Carlos dos Santos, Grandpa of Ilê, president of Ilê Aiyê.

On Carnival Saturday, the Ilê exit in Curuzu, the Liberdade neighborhood, promises to be one of the highlights of the party. Other groups such as Cortejo Afro, Didá, Muzenza, Malê Debalê and afoxé Filhos de Gandhy also take to the streets in the Campo Grande and Barra-Ondina circuits.

In total, there will be 700 attractions on the official festival circuits and another 400 performances on stages in the neighborhoods. One of the highlights will be the return of Gilberto Gil to the electric trios. The former Minister of Culture will lead a parade together with the current minister of the ministry, Margareth Menezes, and the singer Chico César, who was Secretary of Culture in Paraíba. The initiative was named Trio da Cultura.

Artists such as Daniela Mercury, Ludmilla, Carlinhos Brown, Durval Lelys, Saulo, Luiz Caldas, Armandinho Baby do Brasil and bands such as Timbalada and Araketu also parade without ropes and abadás on the city’s main circuits.

Castro Alves square, the heart of the party, will have a Pitty show and a joint performance by Davi Moraes and Pepeu Gomes at sunset.

The party ends on Wednesday (14) with parades by Bell Marques and Carlinhos Brown. Creator of the arrastão on Ash Wednesday, Brown intends to unite members of Ilê Aiyê, Olodum and Apaches do Tororó together with 500 percussionists to celebrate Afro-Bahian culture.