A never-ending party

The religious and secular feasts of Bahia carry on the whole year round. The most famous are those of the Procession of the Navigators (31st December to 1st January), when hundreds of vessels follow the boat with the Master of Navigators, in the bay of All Saints; the washing of the steps of the Church of Bonfim by the people of Bahia in traditional costumes, in the second fortnight of January; and the Carnival, which in recent times has displayed new musical rhythms such as the axé music and timbalada, apart from incorporating the lambada.

The Carnival has become the second most famous of Brazil - second only to Rio de Janeiro - and attracts ever-increasing groups of tourists from both Brazil and abroad, who follow the trios elétricos (highly-amplified guitars, drums and singers on a float), afoxés (groups of African dancers singing about themes of Candomblé) and Afro groups (a type of percussion band based on African rhythms) down the "parade street" between the City square and the suburb of Ondina. Groups of revellers also drag thousands of people to the Barra lighthouse and to Castro Alves square, where the most famous meeting of the trios elétricos takes place on Tuesday morning, the last day of the Carnival.