Evening star., 1950-12-03
2 2Cruise Ships
Will Visit Rio
For Carnival

NEW YORK - Two special
cruises to the famed carnival in
Rio de Janeiro have been an
nounced by Moore-McC Cormack
Lines. The announcement fol-
lowed word from Brazil that the
1881 festival is expected to be one
of the greatest of the pre-Lenten
events in the history of that
country.
The Good Neighbor liners, Ar
gentina and Brazil, sister ships of
the Moore Mccormack fleet, will
be in Rio two full days and nights
of. carnival, when the entire city
completely shuts up shop and
enters into the festive activities.
Although the vessels will leave
New York two weeks apart, they
will meet in the Brazilian capital
early Monday morning February
5. The Argentina will leave New
York on January 10, the Brazil
will sail from New York on Janu-
ary Is, sailing directly to Rio.
Months of Preparation.
Carnival is the major event of
the year for the people Of Brazil.
The Cariocas, as the residents of
Rio are called, spend months pre-
pairing for Che festival. The
major hotels of the country. par
ticularly those in Rio, will be
weeks in preparing for the balls
and decorations that will be Used
for the three-day Mardi Gras.,
The fabulous S25 million Hotel
Quitandinha, located an hours
drive from Rio in Petropolis. Will
be the scene of one of the famed
grand balls. There, hundreds of
coStumed BrazilianS will parade,
sing and dance for the entire
night.
The center o. the Rio carnival
is the Teatro Municipal, where the
official queen of the carnival will
be crowned. The gigantic main
room will be filled with thousands
of singing and dancing Cariocas.
This is an invitation affair and
tickets are a prize not easily ac-
quired. Arrangements will be
made for passengers on the Brazil
and Argentina to receive tickets
to these and other of the gala
affairs.
However, it is the street carnival
that is the essence of Rios fame,
and it is here that the true spirit
of the Mardi Gras is best seen and
heard. Down the wide avenues go
gayly decorated cars, with bril-
liantly costumed revelers pelting
passersby with confetti and SER
pentines.
Contest of Sambas.
In the main avenue of the city,
the Rio Branco, thousands of peo-
pie jam the street from sidewalk
to sidewalk, and rival samba
groups challenge one another for
the coveted dance prizes awarded
by the municipality for the best
dressed and most talented group.
The Mardi Gras will begin Sum-
day afternoon, February 4, with a |
parade of children along famed
Copacabana Beach on the Avenida
Atlantica. Simmering Sunday
night, it will burst into full ex-
citing flower on Monday, which is
known as peoples day."
The fiesta ends Tuesday night,
on the eve of Ash Wednesday,
with the grand parade of floats
sponsored by carnival clubs, which
are subsidized by the municipality. /
Great wooden stands will be
erected along the route of the
parade for the spectators, and |
passengers aboard the Good
Neighbor vessels will have reserved
space to view the spectacle. The /
parade lasts for hours, as float |
after float, gayly bedecked and
lighted, passes before the cheering
throngs.
Every one enters into the carni-
val spirit, and all the tourist has
to do to be in costume is to turn
his coat wrong side out, roll up
his trouser legs and wear odd
colored STOCKINGS,