Fairfield’s own “Carnaval de Brasil”

Contributed Photo

Carnival is one of the biggest celebrations in Brazil, with 4.9 million people attending last year’s incarnation of the annual festival, and on Thursday Feb. 16, Fairfield University will be having its own carnival.

The tradition of Carnival, or in Portuguese Carnaval, was brought from European settlers to Brazil. Professor Quaglia elaborated on the history of Carnival: “It’s the four days before Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday… This started in the medieval times, to compensate the forty days that came after where you cannot eat, you must fast, you can only eat fish some days.”

The celebration of Carnival began segregated between the classes, then with the passage of time the celebration became more integrated. Now Carnival brings a sense of national pride, representing everyone’s contribution to Brazilian culture.

Carnival as we know it, with the parades and the pageantry started in the 1950’s. “They created schools of samba… they show sometimes 3,000-4,000 people, they have to parade in 75 minutes, they have to show their costumes, their floaters, and the harmony of a whole group moving in the same direction,” Quaglia said. “And they make this as a way to win a prize. “

This coming Thursday, we’ll be having our own Carnival in the lower level of the BCC. “We’re going to have a carnival here on the 16th, from 8:30-10:30 p.m.

“We’re going to have Brazilian food, someone should be bringing some drinks, guarana,” Quaglia said. “We’re going to do a party, everybody is going to follow somebody dancing on a stage, people don’t have to know how to dance, they can just come in.”

Some of the different cuisine you can expect at the festivities are coxinha, embadinha, brigadeiro, and guarana. Coxinha is similar to a chicken nugget, shredded chicken and spices, covered in batter and deep fried, while embadinha is more similar to emapanadas, but with a slightly flakier crust. Then on the sweeter side, brigadeiro is small chocolate bonbon, and guarana a soft drink made from an extract from the plant of the same name.

All in all, the event is one that shouldn’t be missed, the confluence of Brazilian culture and Fairfield U style partying.