The Helsinki Samba Carnaval is an annual

samba Samba () is a broad term for many of the rhythms that compose the better known Brazilian music genres that originated in the Afro-Brazilians, Afro Brazilian communities of Bahia in the late 19th century and early 20th century, It is a name or ...

carnival held in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, the capital of

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, since 1991. It's considered the largest organized carnival celebration in the nordic countries. The carnival takes place on the weekend in early to middle June, normally close to the

Helsinki Day Helsinki Day (, ) is an annual celebration in Finland, held on 12 June, to celebrate the city of Helsinki. The number of attendees in the events on the day exceeds one hundred thousand. On the day, the Helsinki Medal is awarded to noteworthy cit ...

on 12 June. Unlike the

Rio Carnival The Carnival in Rio de Janeiro ( Portuguese: ''Carnaval do Rio de Janeiro'') is a festival held every year before Lent; it is considered the biggest celebration of Carnival in the world, with two million people per day on the streets. The first ...

, it is not possible to hold the carnival in January through March, because like many other places in northern Europe, the outdoor temperature in Helsinki is far too low at that time.

History

The carnival lacks a proper historical tradition. It mostly grew from experimenting and organising, but was still influenced by

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

ian traditions. In 2007,

Tarja Halonen Tarja Kaarina Halonen (, born 24 December 1943) is a Finns, Finnish politician who served as the 11th president of Finland, and the first and to date only woman to hold the position, from 2000 to 2012. She first rose to prominence as a lawyer wit ...

President of Finland The president of the Republic of Finland (; ) is the head of state of Finland. The incumbent president is Alexander Stubb, since 1 March 2024. He was elected president for the first time in 2024 Finnish presidential election, 2024. The presi ...

at the time, participated in the event. The organisation responsible for the event is the Finnish Samba School Association (in Finnish: ''Suomen Sambakoulujen Liitto''). It organized the samba carnival for the first time in 1991 in

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

, but since 1993, Helsinki has been established as the official carnival location. The association has been awarded the esteemed Insignia of the Order of Rio Branco by the Federative Republic of Brazil.PRESS: The Organizer of Helsinki Samba Carnaval®, Association of Samba Schools in Finland, Receives International Recognition
– Helsinki Samba Carnaval

Samba schools

*Império do Papagaio from

*Força Natural also from Helsinki *Carioca from

*Maracanã from

Lahti Lahti (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Päijät-Häme. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lahti is approximately , while the Lahti sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the mo ...

*El Gambo from

Kokkola Kokkola (; , ) is a town in Finland and the regional capital of Central Ostrobothnia. It is located on the west coast of the country, on the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Kokkola is approximately , while the Kokkola sub-region, sub-region h ...

*Tropical from

Seinäjoki Seinäjoki (; "Wall River"; , formerly ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of South Ostrobothnia. Seinäjoki is located in the western interior of the country and along the Seinäjoki (river), River Seinäjoki. The population of Sein ...

*União da Roseira from

Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...

References

External links

Official website
{{Helsinki Cityscape Carnivals in Finland Festivals in Helsinki Recurring events established in 1991 Samba Summer in Finland