Google wants to bring Brazil’s Carnival to the world

Mention Brazil and a couple of things come to mind: golden sandy beaches, football, and Carnival. Now Google is trying to give everyone a taste of one of the world’s most famous street festivals.

In an official blog post the internet giant claims that it will be bringing people the “sounds and energy of Brazilian Carnival directly from the streets of Salvador (Brazil’s first capital and one of the oldest cities in the Americas) through Google+, YouTube and Orkut)”.

Between 16 and 21 February, Google says, people will be able to:

• Watch the festivities wherever they are in the world on the Carnival YouTube Channel. Starting 16 February, people will have access to everything from a live transmission of the streetfest to videos of bands who have travelled to Salvador to host the party. They will also be able to chat with other YouTube users who are watching the party with them from around the world through a map Google claims to have integrated just for the occasion.
• Chat with bands and watch live interviews on Google+. People can chat with some of the Brazilian bands who have joined the festivities in real-time by sending questions via Google+ and Orkut. They will also be able to watch celebrity interviews running live throughout the week on the AoVivo (live) Google+ Page and transmitted simultaneously on YouTube and Orkut.

Although Google will be concentrating on Salvador, Carnival is immensely popular all over Brazil. In 2011, Rio de Janerio’s carnival alone reportedly drew in 4.9-million people, 400 000 of whom were foreigners.

The six-day festival occurs just before Lent. During this period, certain Roman Catholics and other Christians abstain from the consumption of meat and poultry. The term carnival comes from “carnelevare”, literally meaning “to remove meat”.