When I tell people that I come from Brazil the first thing they think and talk about is “carnaval”. Not wrong, but Brazil is much more than Carnaval, and Carnaval is much more than what the media shows. In this sense, I would like to explore more about this here by presenting how is the real carnaval in Sao Paulo (my home city).
What the media focus in presenting the carnaval in Brazil is only part of its big festival. If you are not in Brazil, you basically see or read about the huge organized parades led by the samba schools in Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro. So, what I would like to share here is that when you are in Brazil you can experience much more. In most of the Brazilian cities there are carnaval celebrations on the streets, with Brazilian music and free for everyone to enjoy. To illustrate: imagine it is Summer, there are many people wearing costume, dancing and following a music band on top of a truck that drives slowly through the city. 

In Sao Paulo there is approximately 400 parades where about 9 million people celebrate the festival. Although the carnaval holiday lasts 4 days, some parades are launched a few days before so people can start celebrating the festival for a longer period of time. 
What about carnaval in Munich? Here, the carnaval lasts only 3 days (during the Winter) but it is packed with fun and costume parties. Although here the festival counts with less people than in Sao Paulo, both  cities can host great events!
If you ever have an opportunity to go to Brazil during carnaval, be prepared to have fun and watch out to be safe and hydrated because of the hot weather!
I hope this post helps you to be more familiar with this traditional and huge Brazilian event. Should you have any question, please let me know!
Kind regards,

Maiara