Brazilian Carnival is a popular and annual festival that takes place in Brazil during the four days that precede the start of Ash Wednesday, that is, normally between the months of February and the beginning of March depending on the year.

Carnival was introduced in Brazil in the 1800s, with Shrovetide, where there was a play brought by the Portuguese that consisted of throwing water, flour, eggs and paint at each other. This play ended up being adopted and also seen as a form of entertainment by the African slaves who lived in the Brazilian colonies, who had fun in their free time while mixing drumming and African rhythms with Portuguese music. This mixture of genres and rhythms would give rise to the carnival marchinhas and samba, which would become fundamental genres for the festival. The original Shrovetide play, however, was no longer practiced, because many upper-class citizens saw it as something uncivilized for the party, which made them adopt elements from Carnivals in other countries (specifically France) that replaced water, flour and eggs with colorful confetti, streamers and bouquets of flowers, which was seen as the most ideal for the festivity. Another element adopted from these countries were the traditional masks, originating from the Masquerade Ball, which were also well received.

In Brazilian metropolises such as Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and Recife, the new tradition of elements continued with the popularization of automobiles, where rich citizens of these cities went out with cars and threw confetti and streamers at passersby until the 1930s, when the end came of manufacturing convertible cars and also because they became cheaper vehicles, allowing more popular classes to join the fest.

With the marchinhas, the carnival set in the streets became more lively, with a sound resembling military marches, but faster and more engaging, which sometimes had lyrics with a social critique about the situation in Brazil in relation to political classes and society in general. The first marchinha, according to scholars and historians, was "Ó Abre Alas", composed in 1899 by Chiquinha Gonzaga. As the party became more popular across the country, so-called carnival groups or "foliões" (revelers) began to emerge, taking to the streets of the city playing marchinhas and making everyone dance. With the emergence of radio, many were able to recognize marchinhas, which became a popular musical genre among people, with several singers and performers of this style emerging, such as the actress and icon of Brazilian culture Carmen Miranda and Francisco Alves, who are two big names in the genre music industry.

Finally, in the 1960s, marchinhas gave way to samba, today one of the most popular genres of Brazilian Carnival alongside axé and frevo, which also gave rise to the popular samba schools.

In some states and regions of Brazil, there are sambadromes, which are spaces dedicated to parades and samba schools. Therefore, some of them stand out for their unique aspects that helped to develop and give more forms to the Brazilian Carnival.

In the northern region of Brazil, carnival is closely linked to the region's indigenous culture. A party called “Carnaboi” is common in Manaus, which merges the folklore of Bumbá Meu Boi with samba and axé.

The northeast region of Brazil stands out for carnivals usually held on seaside avenues where trios elétricos are present, large trucks with a very loud sound that are driven around the city. In the state of Pernambuco, more precisely in the city of Olinda, there are large dolls that portray characters, historical figures or celebrities, in addition to frevo, a genre originating in the state. In Bahia, in its capital Salvador, axé and samba-reggae stands out, which are also a genres originating there.

Brazilian Carnival fashion mainly involves masks and costumes of any theme and without restrictions, be it film or cartoon characters, mythical figures (fairies, angels and demons mainly), animals, etc. The colors normally present in carnival costumes and clothes are vibrant and bright, sometimes including glitter, which is one of the main trademarks of the festivity. The well-known costumes of Brazilian Carnival dancers includes:

Brazilian Carnival music mainly covers genres that emerged from the festival, such as marchinha, samba, axé, pagode and frevo. However, many Brazilians at private carnival parties began to expand into other genres unrelated to the festival, such as funk , MPB (Brazilian Popular Music) and even rock.