Forget glitter, this Carnival party in southern Brazil is all about mud - AP explains

Описание: (15 Feb 2026)
RESTRICTIONS SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Paraty, Brazil - 14 February 2026
1. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) Thiago Mostazo, The Associated Press:
“This is one of the most unusual festivities of Carnival here in Brazil, this is called Bloco da Lama, or Mud Bloc.”
2. Various of revellers covered in mud singing "Uga Uga Rá Rá", the traditional chant of "Bloco da Lama" or mud party
3. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) Thiago Mostazo, The Associated Press:
“As you can see people here are covered head to toe in mud. This is how it happens, they go to a bank of mud in the far end of the Jabaquara beach, where we are located right now, so they cover themselves completely in mud and come back here all dressed very similarly in mud. So this is also a very democratic party here in the city of Paraty."
4. Aerial shot of people at Jabaquara mangrove covering themselves with mud ++MUTE++
5. Group of friends crawling in mud
7. Couple kissing inside mud bank
8. Couple preparing for parade
9. Revellers crawling in mud
STORYLINE:
Revelers heading to Carnival parties in Brazil typically don colorful, skimpy outfits and splatter glitter everywhere, but near an old colonial town in the south of the country people cover themselves in something very different – mud.

Partakers in this unusual Carnival party in Paraty drape gray sludge on themselves and roll around in the silty shallows of a beach, forming a unified mass.

Under a blazing sun, the mud-covered partygoers danced and grunted cavemen chants — “Uga! Uga!” — while marching along the sand, accompanied by musicians.

The tradition started in 1986, according to Paraty’s tourism site.

Friends were playing in the mangroves at Jabaquara Beach, and realized they weren’t recognizable.

They went strolling into the city’s historic center and caused a stir.

The next year, a group lathered themselves up with mud to present themselves as a prehistoric tribe for Carnival.

They carried skulls, vines and bones as they uttered their chants, the site said.

And so the mud party was born. And in the years since, it has become a beloved tradition.

AP video shot by Thiago Mostazo and Maycron Abade

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