Carnivals in the world

Carnivals are the prelude to Holy Week. It is a time when everything is permitted to make way for Lent. For some surviving elements of Carnival has ancient pagan celebrations of winter or Roman festivals.

In ancient rural society that was heavily structured by Christianity, the time of "Shrovetide? masquerades offered rituals of pagan origin and time of permissiveness that opposed repression and formality of Lent.

Etymologically, there are several interpretations of the word Carnival. In the Middle Ages the Catholic Church proposed to come from the Vulgar Latin: flesh-levare which means "give up meat?, Which was mandatory for all during the Fridays of Lent.

Later came another etymology: the Italian word carnevale mean that during that time you can eat.

In the late twentieth century several authors began to discuss the pagan origins of the name: Carna is the Celtic Goddess of the beans and bacon and Indo-European parties would conectactada with Karna dedicated to the god. Some people believe that "carnival? refers to a supposed ancient pagan tradition in which meat was offered to the god Baal in a party where anything went.

Carnival is a festival that combines fun, costumes, parades and street parties.

The date of the Carnival is closely linked to the date of Easter. Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday and Saturday of Carnival is on Saturday. Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent and 40 days before Palm Sunday is the Sunday before Easter Sunday, during Holy Week. In addition to these data, it is important to know that the day with the first full moon of spring coincides with the week of Easter.

Carnival is celebrated in many countries, but some are especially famous. Highlights include: Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Mardi Gras in New Orleans, USA, in Europe: the carnivals of Tenerife and Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, Bonn, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Mainz in Germany is famous for its lively carnival. Not to mention the magnificent Carnival of Venice in Italy.