Carnival!

March 4 is the official day celebrating carnival in Angola. Schools were closed as were businesses and Luanda started clearing our already on the Friday before as many took advantage of the long holiday weekend. Preparations started weeks ahead with bleachers being mounted on the main avenue where the parade was to take place.

 Angola was one of the main slave providers to Brazil and the captured slaves  took with them their music and religion and that is how the Semba/Samba tradition began in Brazil, an integral part of the Brazilian carnival. The Angolan carnival dates back to the 1850's, and was a huge, spectacular event before the long civil war took its toll on the country. Carnival in Angola is regaining strength each year,  and it is an event for the whole family and all generations.

In my short time in Angola, I have come to realize that music and dance are an integral part of the culture, so I was really looking forward to watching Carnival. Our sources of information were a bit fuzzy, but we finally determined that the parade was to start at 4:00 pm. Our main concern was parking: where and would we get out again? We decided that we would park at a public lot closest to the parade area and see if we could walk to the end of it.

Before we left, we watched the local TV channel, and indeed, the parade had started! We could see the nation's president, José Eduardo Dos Santos, looking very relaxed in a printed, short sleeved shirt watching the festivities from the bleachers with whom I assume is his wife, a beautiful woman wearing dark sun glasses.

As we made for the parade, I was surprised at how quiet our part of town was. Almost no cars, and I did not see anyone dressed up. However, as we got to the "Marginal" area near the water, we could see children  and some adults dressed in face masks and costumes. People were walking in the general direction of the parade. As we made our way, it was still very hot and we knew the walk would be longer that what we had expected.

We met a lovely group of young girls, wearing masks and very curious about who we were and what we were doing. They allowed me to take their picture!

Carnival beauties!

Our next plan was to drive up to a gas station closer to the parade and see if we could park. As we arrived, we could see a float getting ready to go to the area, but there were barricades everywhere and no parking, so we had to capitulate and head back home. It was nice to be out and see that people were enjoying themselves and taking part in this tradition!