Posted on February 4th, 2025

Your Imagery Work Break – Rio de Janeiro During Carnival

We love maps.

We love imagery.

We love work breaks.

We hope you like them as well!

The biggest celebration of Carnival in the world will take place February 28 to March 8, 2025 with an estimated 2 million flooding the streets each day. Held in Brazil, Carnival has been labeled The Greatest Show on Earth.

Whether you’re planning a once in a lifetime trip down south to celebrate or plan to observe the festivities from home, we have an image you’ll surely appreciate. For this month’s Imagery Work Break, we feature a 30-centimeter Pléiades Neo 4 image from February 12, 2024, that was taken over Rio de Janerio during Carnival. You can even see the floats as they march down the street.

The Rio Carnival starts on Friday and runs until Tuesday, a day shy of Ash Wednesday, a Catholic tradition that signals the start of Lent. It was brought to South America by Portuguese invaders in the 1600’s who celebrated with balls and masquerade dances. African slaves and workers brought to Brazil by the Portuguese soon incorporated their own traditional customs, paying homage to their culture and gods. Present-day celebrations are a fusion of African, Portuguese and Indigenous traditions, giving it an Afro-European blend that defines Brazilian culture.

The top samba schools get the honor of performing in front of millions at the Sambodromo. There’s a panel of approximately 40 judges who sit at key points throughout the stadium, evaluating every movement, costume, song and connection to the samba. The champion is announced on Ash Wednesday. Four different types of samba parades take place at the Sambadrome during carnival time, and these usually follow the same pattern year after year, beginning with the Access Group Parades and ending with the Winner’s Parade.

The first Carnival in Rio de Janeiro was held in 1723. The word carnival originates from the Portuguese “Carne Vale,” interpreted as “Farewell to meat.” The phrase refers to Carnival as being the ultimate celebration before a period of abstinence from alcohol, meat and pleasure begins. The Carnival in Rio de Janeiro has more than just Samba schools and parades; it also has many street parties called “Blocos.” The city’s streets are filled with the rhythm of samba as numerous street parades take place.

Have a great rest of your workday! 😊

(Image Courtesy: Airbus. Processed by Apollo Mapping for improved color accuracy and clarity.)

This entry was posted in The Geospatial Times and tagged , , Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    The Geospatial Times Archive