The history of Carnival in São Paulo

Origins: The Street Carnival and the Cordões (Late 19th Century – Early 20th Century)

The Carnival of São Paulo has roots in the festivities of Portuguese entrudo, a tradition brought by the colonizers, where revelers threw water, flour, and other liquids at each other as a form of celebration. Over time, this practice lost its space to a more organized model inspired by the European Carnival, especially in the corsos, parades of decorated cars where the elite of São Paulo paraded in costumes along the streets of the center, such as Rua Direita and Avenida Paulista.

Meanwhile, in the peripheral and working-class regions, more spontaneous popular manifestations were growing, such as the carnival cordões, which played a fundamental role in forming the identity of the São Paulo Carnival. Unlike the corsos, the cordões were marked by strong Afro-Brazilian influence, with percussion instruments, dance, and collective singing, coming closer to samba culture. Among the main cordões of the time, the following stand out:

• Paulistano da Glória (1910) – One of the pioneers of the genre in the city, it was known for its vibrant parades and the organization of musical performances that exalted popular culture.

• Campos Elyseos (1912) – Gathered workers and residents from the central region, bringing references to customs and stories of the city in its parades.

• Vai-Vai (1914) – Emerged in the Bixiga neighborhood and grew to become the biggest champion of the São Paulo Carnival, maintaining its essence connected to the community and samba tradition to this day.

• Rosa de Ouro – Noted for the strength of its performances and for its connection to Afro-Brazilian roots, influencing future generations of sambistas.

• Flor da Vila Mariana – One of the most popular cordões in the southern region of the city, known for the liveliness of its members and for its creativity in its parades.

The Carnival and samba have some differences between Rio and São Paulo, mainly in the rhythm of the beat – in São Paulo, the tempo tends to be more driven, more marked. This has a lot to do with the history of São Paulo sambistas, many coming from coffee plantations and then from labor work, which made their samba more "heavy" and percussive, as Plínio Marcos described: a "work samba, tough, pulled to the beat." Meanwhile, the samba from Rio de Janeiro brought more lyricism and fluidity. Moreover, São Paulo's samba was heavily influenced by rhythms such as jongo-macumba, also called Caxambú.

Since that time, Carnival and repression went hand in hand: the police viewed sambistas as criminals and persecuted them harshly, not just during Carnival but all year round. In the growing São Paulo, the sound of drums echoed in the peripheries, bringing with it a culture of immigrants that would have a huge impact on Brazil's cultural identity in the future.

In 1885, the São Paulo City Hall made its first intervention in Carnival, organizing the first parade of the cordões that existed at the time. For a long time, these cordões dictated the musicality of the city's working population and were the cradle of São Paulo samba.

On the other hand, the carnival festivities of the poorer classes, with strong influence from black culture, were practically invisible to the mainstream media and ignored by public authorities – when they were not harshly repressed.

The First Samba School of São Paulo: Lavapés

The Lavapés Samba School, founded in 1937 in the Cambuci region, is considered the first samba school in São Paulo. Unlike the cordões, Lavapés adopted a structural model inspired by the samba schools of Rio de Janeiro, with more organized parades, thematic plots, and a well-defined rhythm section. Its emergence marked the beginning of the transition of the São Paulo Carnival to a more structured format similar to what we know today.

Lavapés helped consolidate the culture of samba in the city, being a milestone in the professionalization of the São Paulo Carnival. Although it is currently not among the big schools of the Special Group, its historical importance remains, being remembered as the forerunner of the samba schools in the capital of São Paulo.

Vai-Vai: From Cordão to São Paulo's Biggest Champion (1914 - Today)

The Vai-Vai was born as a cordão formed by black workers and laborers from the Bixiga neighborhood, a stronghold of Afro-Brazilian culture in the city. The name reportedly originated from the expression used by members when calling each other to rehearsals: "Vai, vai!"

Over time, the cordões lost ground to the samba schools, a model that emerged in Rio de Janeiro in the 1920s and brought a more structured organization, with plots, wings, and thematic costumes. In response to this change, Vai-Vai transitioned to a samba school and, over the decades, established itself as one of the most traditional and victorious in the São Paulo Carnival.

Main milestones:

• First title as a samba school in 1972, with a striking parade that demonstrated its strength in the São Paulo Carnival.

• 1980s and 1990s – The school established itself as one of the greats of the Carnival, accumulating titles and developing increasingly elaborate plots.

• 2015 – Won its last title so far with the plot “Simply Elis,” a tribute to singer Elis Regina.

Gaviões da Fiel: From Organized Supporters to Carnival (1969 - Today)

The Gaviões da Fiel was founded in 1969 as an organized supporters group for Corinthians, created to combat corruption within the club and support the team in stadiums. Over time, the supporters expanded their role, and in 1975, entered Carnival as a carnival bloc.

The popularity of the Gaviões was so great that, in 1989, it transitioned to a samba school. Its first title in the Special Group came in 1995, with an impactful parade on freedom and democracy, earning respect in the carnival scene.

Highlights:

• Intense rivalry with Mancha Verde, the organized supporters of Palmeiras, who also have their own samba school.

• Titles in the Special Group: 1995, 1999, 2002, and 2003.

• Plots that often address themes related to Corinthians and Brazilian popular culture.

The Emergence of Samba Schools and the Structuring of Carnival (1930 - 1980)

During the decades of 1930 and 1940, samba consolidated itself as the dominant rhythm of the São Paulo Carnival, driven by the growth of samba schools. Among the pioneers, the following stand out:

• Nenê de Vila Matilde (1949) – The first great school in the East Zone, facing the dominance of the associations from Barra Funda and Bixiga.

• Camisa Verde e Branco (1953) – Emerged as a dissidence of the Barra Funda Carnival Group and became one of the most traditional in the city.

Until the 1960s and 1970s, parades were held in downtown São Paulo, on avenues such as São João. However, the lack of adequate infrastructure hindered the organization and appreciation of samba schools.

The 2000s and the Growth of Street Blocs

From the 2000s, São Paulo began to experience a revival of street Carnival, driven by independent initiatives and the growing interest of the population in more spontaneous and accessible parties. The movement gained strength mainly after 2010, with the participation of large blocs such as:

• Acadêmicos do Baixo Augusta – One of the first to consolidate the new phase of the São Paulo Carnival, parading in the central region with irreverent and politicized themes.

• Monobloco and Bangalafumenga – Imported from Rio de Janeiro, they helped popularize the blocs in the city.

• Bloco da Preta, Bloco do Sargento Pimenta, and Ritaleena – Mix samba with other music genres, attracting a diverse audience.

The growth was so significant that, in 2019, the street Carnival of São Paulo became the largest in Brazil, surpassing that of Rio de Janeiro in number of blocs and revelers.

Conclusion: From Cordões to One of the Largest Carnivals in Brazil

The Carnival of São Paulo has come a long way, evolving from the old cordões to become one of the largest spectacles in the country. With the consolidation of samba schools and the explosion of street blocs, the city today hosts one of the most diverse and vibrant parties in Brazil. The combination of samba tradition and the effervescence of the blocs places São Paulo on a new level, attracting more and more tourists and investments, ensuring that the carnival culture continues to evolve and reinvent itself each year.