PARATY, Brazil
While most of Brazil celebrates Carnival in sequins and sparkle, revelers in the colonial town of Paraty take a different approach: they cover themselves in mud.
At Jabaquara Beach, partygoers wade into the silty shallows, slather themselves in gray sludge, and emerge as a unified, unrecognizable mass.
They dance, drum, and chant caveman-like “Uga! Uga!” calls under the blazing sun.
“Everyone is kind of the same,” said Charles Garcia Pessoa, a 37-year-old entrepreneur. “Those who have money and those who don’t: everyone comes here to jump into the mud.”
The tradition started in 1986 when friends playing in the mangroves realized the mud made them anonymous.
They paraded into the city’s historic center and caused a stir. Nearly 40 years later, the muddy march endures—a leveling ritual in a festival known for flashy excess.
By James Kisoo
