This past Tuesday the Portuguese club held a carnival celebration at lunch, with music, games, and the endlessly popular, bifana. This celebration marks the beginning of Lent and is rooted in a deep cultural history.
Carnival is a Brazilian festival lasting from Friday of last week until Tuesday of this week, better known as Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras. Because of these celebrations’ Brazilian roots, the Portuguese club thought it would be fun to hold a carnival celebration, blasting Portuguese music, playing games, and sharing the carnival spirit, before the time of abstinence that is Lent.
For those unaware, Lent is a Christian observance that reflects the 40 days and 40 nights Jesus spent in fasting and denying himself in a desert, leading up to his resurrection and Easter.
During carnival many communities all over the world celebrate, most of which have Brazilian or Portuguese roots. These communities celebrate with dancing, parades, extravagant outfits, parties, music, and everything in between.
At LHS, we celebrated with the special lunch option of a bifana, so popular the line practically trailed into the math wing, and continued to grow. Loud Portuguese music blasted from a speaker, as my peers played many different games; some opting to dance instead.
Here are some pictures from the event:
