SoCal's largest annual Brazilian Carnaval celebration returns to the Palladium after years in Long Beach.
First, two large Carnaval-related events will take place this weekend -- a festival in Santa Barbara and the annual Brazilian Carnaval at the Palladium Saturday. Then, a DJ-centric dance party dubbed Made in Brazil returns to Hollywood early next month after a well- received August turn at the Avalon, and automaker Scion is sponsoring an art exhibition of emerging São Paulo street artists in Culver City, which debuts Feb. 28.
Pre-Lenten celebrations called Carnival ("Carnaval" in Portuguese) are a grand and raucous tradition in the majority-Catholic countries of South America. This weekend, the party rages in cities such as Rio de Janeiro, which is famed for its massive annual fete that ends on Mardi Gras.
Despite the Southland's relatively small population of Brazilian nationals (estimated at “around 20,000," by Brazilian consulate officials), the local celebrations have become important and well-attended annual events.
The largest and longest-running party, the annual Brazilian Carnaval returns to the Palladium in Hollywood Saturday after a multi-year-run in Long Beach aboard the Queen Mary.
“The Queen Mary was too restrictive as a venue," Burbank-based Brazilian Carnaval promoter Patricia Leao said from the Palladium during preparations for this weekend's blowout in Hollywood. This year, she expects more than 1,500 people. “It was small, but just like in Brazil, people are used to being stuck right against one another. Most people have really good memories [of the parties held inside the Queen Mary], and some preferred it, but many didn't know about the Palladium before it."
Indeed, back in the 1990s and even before, the annual hommage to all- things-Brazil took place at the Sunset Boulevard space, becoming an on-again-off-again Hollywood rite of spring.
“The whole festival started in the late 1980s," said Leao, a former dancer and native of Bolivia with an affection for Brazil. “2000 was the only year it didn't happen [at the Palladium]; then I took over and went to Long Beach."
And while the festival gained a following over the last few years in Long Beach (she and her partners are now in their ninth year promoting their Carnaval parties in the area), Live Nation's recent renovation of the Hollywood concert hall enticed Leao and Brazilian Carnaval organizers back to where the party began.
And what, exactly, will curious locals hoping for a taste of Carnaval- style revelry get this year at the annual event?
For starters, a live satellite feed of the actual Carnaval taking place in Brazil projected onto a large screen for the first time -- for that extra authentic feel. “Even though they are six hours ahead of us, [Carnaval-goers in Brazil] are still partying no matter what time we are here," she said. In addition, the ninth Brazilian Carnaval boasts samba bands, percussionists, a capoeira dance show and numbers by Vver Brasl dance company.
