Throughout the festival, music and dance literally invade all parts of the city and its inhabitants. Day and night, people gather in the streets to show off their samba moves, musical talents, complicated costumes, and more than anything, to have fun and share their culture and cheerfulness with the rest of the world.

Samba is at the heart of the Rio Carnival. This typical Brazilian dance and music originated in the Afro-Brazilian community in the 17^th, 18^th, and 19^th century, and is now one of the core elements of the Brazilian culture. The term samba derives from the Angolan word “semba” which referred to a type of ritual music in African countries.

During Carnival, all the best samba schools of Rio participate in a contest, the Samba Parade, the highlight of the entire week. Each school represents a specific neighborhood, with its own dances, music, and costumes. They practice for months before the Carnival to make sure they put on the best show in the Sambodromo, a gigantic hall where the parade takes place every year.

Other noteworthy events are the Carnival Balls, which are held in all the most popular venues in the city. The most famous (and expensive) one takes place at the Copacabana Palace, a 5-star luxury resort. If you’re on a budget, there are many other balls to attend, with tickets ranging from $70 to $150. Everyone dresses up in shiny party costumes and come to the ball to dance the night away. There are balls scheduled every night during the length of the Carnival. Check out the official Rio Carnival 2012 website to find the detailed program.

Of course, there are also ways to partake in the festivities without spending too much money. It can be expensive to purchase tickets to the Samba Parade or to the various balls. However, it’s free to enjoy the hundreds of bands and parties that take to the streets every day. Some parties are held in specific places, such as the city’s parks, and others are processions of dancers and merrymakers that just follow bands as they play. The largest street party takes place in Cinelandia Square. And even if you don’t have a ticket to the parade, it’s worth taking a look outside the Sambodromo on parade days as the street is generally packed with people that just want to join in on the fun.

June is one of the busiest months of the year in terms of cultural events in Brazil, and probably one of the best times to immerse yourself in the rich Brazilian culture, and soak up the sun in some of its most picturesque beach towns. Read this guide to Brazil’s cultural calendar in June and start planning your exciting Brazil vacation. Although this is a time when temperatures can drop, as it coincides with the South American winter, the country enjoys a mild and pleasant climate year round. Just pack a light sweater for the chillier nights and you’re ready to go!

June is a month of many religious celebrations in Brazil, which are generally held with great excitement and always involve massive festivities. Most of the population is fervently catholic and the country almost seems to come to a halt to celebrate Christianity. The main commemoration, Corpus Christi, celebrating the Holy Sacrament during the Last Supper between Jesus Christ and his disciples, is one of the most important days in the Catholic calendar, and will be held on June 23^rd this year.

This is a national holiday, so be prepared for most shops and some restaurants to be closed. Some of the most impressive festivities are held in Sao Paulo. Streets are covered with colorful carpets made of wooden shavings and other materials representing scenes of the Last Supper, and the city gives way to the joyful and moving “March for Jesus,” a parade that moves to the sounds of live Christian bands leading the way on decorated trucks.

Known as the Festas Juninas (June parties), a tradition imported from Portugal under colonial times, the celebrations of Saint Anthony (June 12^th), Saint John the Baptist (June 24^th), and Saint Peter (29^th) punctuate the month and are observed throughout the country with festivities including live music, food, and of course Catholic ceremonies.

If you’re not so much into religious celebrations, don’t worry; Brazil holds many other noteworthy events in June that will make for unforgettable sights and memories. If you are traveling to Brazil with your other half, this is the perfect moment to show them your love on Brazil’s Valentine’s Day, known as the Dia dos Namorados, on June 12^th. The day is celebrated widely all over Brazil with lavish parties on the same day as Saint Anthony’s day, who is the saint patron of marriage. Another curious tradition which has made its way through the centuries is for single girls to pray to Saint Anthony on this day so he will find them a husband.

Every year in June, Sao Paulo, Brazil’s most avant-garde city, is home to the world’s largest and most exciting Gay Pride Parade (Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Transvestites and Transexual Pride Parade, or LGBT). This year, the 15^th edition of the parade will overcome the entire city on June 26^th with over 4 million people are expected to attend.

Be prepared to be shocked and dazzled as you find yourself taken in the whirl of music, costumes, and partying. Gigantic theme-decorated trucks ride throughout the city with thousands of followers dancing to the sounds of loud music and slogans. The slogan for 2011 will be “Love one another. Enough with homophobia”. The first parade was held in 1997 with a mere 2,000 participants, and is today one of the most long-awaited festivities in the country. And if you can’t make it to Brazil in June, Rio de Janeiro will be housing its own edition of the Gay Pride Parade on November 14, 2011. Book your Rio de Janeiro tour now and take part in this once-in-a-lifetime experience!

Florianopolis Tours are popular, especially during the high season (December-February), with those who want to enjoy the beach, sun, surfing, water sports like windsurfing and jet skiing, and trendy techno nightclubs that the city of Florianopolis has on tap.

Florianopolis: beach hotspot by day, music clubs by night

Florianopolis, or just Floripa, is a tropical island surrounded by 42 beaches, but it is also a major metropolis. The capital of Santa Catarina state, the island is connected to the mainland by two major suspension bridges, Ponte Hercilio Luz (currently closed for repairs), and Colombo Machado Salles.

The downtown northern part of the Island, nicknamed Brazil’s Silicon Valley is lined with skyscrapers. After work, businesspeople rush to the beaches, especially Jurerê Internacional beach, joined by surfers and other locals to enjoy a relaxing caipirinha and catch a live music show in one of the many nightclubs.

During the off-season (March-November), the Lagoa da Conceição, the lagoon in the center of the island, is the most popular night hotspot due to the warmer climate inland.

Only a short walk from the bus station that connects you will the island in the Lagoa area, there is a main club strip that is lined with bar and clubs open till the early hours playing Brazilian samba as well as modern hits. Its trendy nightclubs are also popular year-round.

Check in surf shops and ask the locals about theme music nights, special events, and house parties. There’s always something happening in Florianopolis.

Best Florianopolis nightclubs on Jurerê Internacional

El Divino Beach: covered patios with lounge chairs and couches with an extensive menu at this upscale beach club, the sister of the sophisticated El Divino Lounge

Posh: located in Music Park, a huge concert arena, Posh is the place where celebrity DJs comes to spin

Pacha: megaclub also located in Music Park

Cafe de la Musique:  Japanese, Italian, and contemporary cuisine is on the menu at this hip dining club

Best Florianopolis nightclubs on Lagoa da Conceição

Confraria das Artes: trendy villa with a view over the Lagoon. Live music and dancing.

Circuit: extremely popular electronic music club

Latitude 27: popular with the younger crowd, a large club with live music and good drinks.

Vecchio Giorgio: a bar with live music and good food, including a oven-baked pizzas

Taiko: beachfront grill, restaurant, and club

Best Florianopolis nightclubs downtown

El Divino Lounge: it doesn´t get more sophisticated than chandeliers, purple laser lighting, retro-mod couches, and top-spinning DJs. This renovated shipyard has a lounge, restaurant, and sushi bar.

Café Cancun: three bars, a restaurant with covered patio, and dancing

Just inland from Rio de Janeiro, and nestled high in the Serra dos Orgãos mountians, Petropolis hosts Bauernfest, a week-long festival to celebrate their German heritage. The borough was colonized in the 1840s by farmers from the German Rhineland.

Prost! Down a stein of beer at the Bauernfest in Petropolis, Brazil

To get to the Heart of the Carioca, to experience the rich diversity of Rio de Janeiro life, wanderlusts must travel to Petropolis, the summer place of the emperor of Brazil, Dom Pedro II. Now the palace is a museum, whose crowning artifact is the imperial crown – studded with over 600 diamonds and pearls.

Droves of folk dancers in lederhosen will parade down the streets lined with Bavarian clapboard houses and shops, and past the neo-gothic steeple of Cathedral of Saint Peter of Alcântara. Kinder choirs, train rides, and a German film festival will all be on tap for those wanting to capture the zeitgeist of this charming summer resort town.

The opening ceremony is on June 25 with the mayor, his entourage, and the infantry marching out of the Crystal Palace. But the fun begins even before then, on the 19^th, with the election of the festival Queen and Princess.

Throughout the week, celebrants can enjoy sauerkraut, streudal, bratwurst, frankfurter, and other German delicacies, along with plenty of the finest Alpine beer. Plus, the World Cup games will be televised in many a beer garden.

The Bourbon Festival Paraty, to be held May 28 to 30, is only two years running, but it’s picking up speed. The rollicking, rioting line-up of jazz, blues, soul, and R&B musicians is sure to get your feet stomping.

Hosted by the Bourbon Street Music Club in Sáo Paulo, open-air, all-night long free concerts will be held at the Praça da Matriz in Paraty’s Historic Center.

The main event will be jazz guitar virtuoso John Pizzarelli. This famous guitarist, singer, and composer has recorded albums dedicated to Brazilian and bossa nova music.

Paraty, on the southern coast of Brazil has been a favorite haunt for jazz and blues legends, including Ray Charles, B.B. King, and Nina Simone. The cobblestone street colonial beach town is also worth a full Paraty tour, as there are terrific beaches and islands surrounding this Brazilian gem.

The full line-up:

Friday, May 28

Leo Gandelman – jazz

Glen David Andrews – New Orleans brass

Big Time Orchestra – rock’n’roll, soul, 50s and 60s swing, Brazilian neo-swing

DJ Bebeto – jazz, bossa, sambalanço, and other hot beats

Sat, May 29

Caviars Blues Band – classic blues

Stanley Jordan and Armandinho – jazz

Victor Brooks & Julie Mcknight and Wayne Vaughn – American soul

DJ Bebeto – jazz, bossa, sambalanço, and other hot beats

Sun, May 30

Rhandal & Trio – brasilian jazz, bossa nova, chorinho, sambalanço, baiáo and xote

Bocato – Brasilian trombones

John Pizzarelli – jazz

When Portuguese explorer Gaspar de Lemos named the bay of Guanabara Rio de Janeiro or “January River”, the Portuguese words for ¨bay¨ and ¨river¨ were the same. While Rio became a lucrative port that trafficked sugar, diamonds and gold from Minas Gerais, as well as African slaves and then later coffee, it also became a battling ground between Portuguese and French settlers.

To appreciate Rio’s early significance in the New World, check out the Museu Histórico Nacional, or National History Museum, which stands guard over 287,000 artifacts that range from the colonial conquest to the imperial era. There are indigenous weapons, impressive paintings, and library titles that include over 57,000 texts, some dating to the 15th century.

Brazil’s colorful Carnaval parade has roots in Portuguese pre-Lenten festivities and masquerades

Rio enjoyed the top spot as the Portuguese Empire’s capital from 1763 until 1808. Fleeing Napoleon, the Portuguese royal family sailed to Rio and named it the new capital of Portugal, so making Rio the only European capital outside of Europe.

The Museu Nacional de Belas Artes, or National Museum of Fine Arts, in downtown Rio houses the extensive art collection of King John VI, who could not part with 16,000 paintings, sculptures, folk and African art treasures even if Napoleon was nipping at his heels.

In 1822, Dom Pedro I declared independence from Portugal, and declared himself emperor of Brazil. The Paço Imperial, or Imperial Palace, housed the emperors Pedro I and Pedro II and their families until Brazil became a republic in 1889.

Initially built in the 1700s in the Baroque style, the Imperial Palace even included a fountain imported from Lisbon. During the Imperial period, it was used for coronations, and from its balconies Dom Pedro famously declared independence. In 1984 the palace was restored to its former grandeur, and now hosts art exhibits and festivals, plus a rare books collection in the Paulo Santos Library.

In the early 1900s, Rio began to take on the festive reputation for which it is now world famous. The Museu do Carnaval, or the Carnival Museum, is a must-see for those who visit Rio when Carnaval is not in full swing.

Carnaval, the annual week-long celebration before the Lenten season, is the best-attended carnival in the world, with more than 500,000 foreigners celebrating in Rio each year. Located in the Sambodromo, the Carnaval museum shows Brazil at its most colorful and spirited, with photographs of samba dancers and elaborate floats, costumes, and historical artifacts that trace Rio’s carnival to its roots in Portuguese pre-Lent festivities and masquerades.

Those are gorgeous beaches, popular for surfing, beach volleyball, shopping, and people-watching. But if you’re seeking a quieter beach, escape to the local sweet spot, Búzios, the peninsula home to several quiet beaches and a vibrant nightlife.

Buzios: Brazil's Coastal Paradise

Only a two hour bus ride north, this beach resort offers the same sparkling warm waters, plus elbow room. From secluded coves to surfers’ haunts, there’s a beach for everyone.

Originally a small whaling town, Búzios has changed much in the past 50 years. In 1964, the French actress Brigitte Bardot visited Búzios as an escape from the paparazzi, and she liked it so much she stayed for several months.

Now known as the playground of the rich, this exclusive coastal city is full of high-end boutiques, hotel resorts, and villas dotting the foothills. There’s a raging nightlife along Rua das Pedras too, with excellent seafood restaurants and, thanks to Bardot, French restaurants.

Top beach destinations:

Tucuns Beach

This sandy getaway is a real getaway – there aren’t any lifeguards, and not much else beyond sand and sky. Used occasionally by surfers and kite boarders, this is the spot if you want peace and quiet.

Geribá

This bay opens to the southeast, welcoming the best surf in Búzios. But it’s not just a surfer hangout; it’s also a celebrity hangout. Soccer stars escape here to play on the sand, and rumor has it that a few soap opera actors vacation here.

The wide beach accommodates soccer and volleyball games, and the water is great for beginners to practice their surfing skills. If you want to get away from the umbrella-lined beach, walk to the east side, the Canto de Geribá, where calmer waters reign.

Canto

Easily the most calm of Búzios’s beaches, Canto is a protected cove where fishing boats harbor. From the town center, you can sit at a café and drink in the tranquil scene.

Brazil Travel Guide: Exploring the Wild Lands of the Pantanal

Humans are few and far between in the Pantanal giving it a feel of almost absolute isolation, although the abundance of wildlife here more than makes up for the lack of people. Species found elsewhere in the world exist here, but in astonishingly oversized versions, such as the giant river otter (1.8 meters long), or the marsh deer (1.2 meters high).

Despite this, continuous flooding has made farming impossible, thus protecting its unique natural heritage. The waters have also made this a hugely important feeding ground for birds and fish, but the area is also home to large populations of land animals, such as the jaguar, ocelots, wolves, capuchins, anteaters and armadillos. The list is almost endless.

Experiencing the area is possible through a variety of exciting adventures and Pantanal tours. A boat ride along the Mutum River will offer fantastic sightings of the enormous and friendly otters, stingrays and fish. Horseback riding through the lowlands offers an extra advantage because you have access to routes where the water is too high for motorized vehicles but too low for boats. The rolling mountains, fields and pasturelands amidst verdant flora and beautiful and diverse fauna can all be explored on guided treks.

Lying mostly within the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil offers the best access to these remarkable wetlands. You will need to fly to Ciuaba or Campo Grande with either direct flight from Brasilia or connecting flights from Rio and Sao Paulo. Independent travel is not recommended because of limited access. The region is known for its fazendas, or cattle stations, which accommodate small numbers of guests at a time for an unforgettable cultural experience.

Now is the time to start planning your Pantanal vacation, with the wet season (November to March) coming to an end. The region is essentially a flood basin and during the dry season the water level recedes and fresh green grasses emerge, making travel over land easier and more comfortable. When making your Brazil travel plans, give yourself at least four days here for the full Pantanal experience. You won’t regret giving this underexplored nucleus of life a look; you never know when your next opportunity to track a jaguar will be.