Rio carnival?

Question

what is it about?
what do they do in it?
what is it done for?
what time in a year they do it in?

Answer 1

"Carnival" takes place in many place, one of the most famous in Rio de Janiero, but also in New Orleans, all over Brazil, in Venice, and other places in Europe and Central/South America and parts of the US. It takes place just before the start of the Roman Catholic time of Lent, which is 40 days before Easter. IT is a time of fun, sensuality, self-indulgence before the fasting and self-denial of lent. It started in medieval times and has persisted to this day. It comes from the Latin - "Carne" (meat) and "Val" (festival) - it was originally the last day you could eat meat before the 40 fast and meatless days of Lent. In Europe and the US, it takes place in late winter, in places below the Equator, it occurs in late summer.

Answer 2

Carnival in Rio is a huge event, the city shuts down for most of it and the participants in the "parade" save all year for their extravagant costumes. The spend the whole year practicing and working on the routines. The different groups in the city compete to be the best. The carnival in Rio makes the Mardi Gras in New Orleans looks so small. It is just huge.
Carnival revolves around Lent, held as a time of self-indulgence before the fasting.
In Rio, carnival is held in February.