Colourful BRAZILICA A Huge Success in Liverpool

A colourful celebration of Brazil took over the city streets at the weekend, as Liverpool Carnival Company's annual Brazilica festival celebrated its 10th anniversary with a sizzling samba extravaganza on Saturday 15 July.

There was a joyous carnival atmosphere in the city as thousands of people lined the streets to watch the spectacular Brazilica Carnival Parade which made its way from Abercromby Square, along Hope Street, Hardman Street, Bold Street, and Church Street, before it's spectacular finale in Williamson Square.

Music and dance came from 15 samba bands including Paraiso School of Samba; G.R.E.S Cidade Brilhante; Katumba; Batala Mersey; Baque Ogun; Worldwide Samba Drummers & Preston Samba Dancers; Grupo Sambafriq; Wirral School of Samba; Liverpool School of Samba; Manchester School of Samba; Arco Iris; and Karamba, who all joined forces to deliver the impressive precession.

Meanwhile, the dancers dazzled in their glitzy, glamorous carnival outfits - with more feathers and sequins than you can shake a drumstick at! Not forgetting the hugely impressive selection of carnival floats, which this year included a float celebrating John Lennon, a fierce 3 headed serpent and Egyptian pharaoh and sphinx.

The festival fun began on Friday 14 July at Revolucion de Cuba, where the heat was on as six amazing samba dancers battled it out for samba supremacy in the ever-popular Carnival Queen Competition. Hosted by Ellie Phillips, there was a fantastic turnout for the event which saw the 2016 Carnival Queen Paris Thompson hand over her crown to this year's triumphant winner, Wendy Okoli.

This year also saw Brazilica move to a brand-new location at The Pier Head, with its main stage programme on Saturday 15 July taking pride of place within the Pier Head Village. Spectators throughout the day enjoyed sights, sounds and tastes of Brazil with highlights which included performances from 10-piece Brazilian Afrobeat band Bixiga 70; Brazilian funk and samba band Afrosamba; power house fusion rhythms from Afro-Brazilian papaJACA and singer-songwriter Aleh Ferreira.

And after the parade, the party continued at Camp and Furnace in Liverpool's Baltic Triangle hosted by carnival DJs with live performances from visiting samba bands.

Speaking about her delight of 2017's festival, Brazilica director Maeve Morris said: "This was a very special year for Brazilica as we celebrated our 10th Anniversary. And what an incredible display of colour, music, dance, and culture. I am continually overwhelmed by the number of people that come out to support us, and it makes all the hard work and time that everyone invests in the festival so worthwhile.

"It was amazing to welcome so many bands and samba schools to Brazilica 2017, the talent they all showcase is simply astounding. A huge thank you to all the volunteers who have given up their time over the past months, the festival wouldn't be possible without all their hard work. And of course, a massive thank you to all the visitors and the people of Liverpool for making Brazilica such a joyful event and a huge success year after year."

But the fun isn't over just yet, there is still time to soak up the Brazilian culture as the Brazilica Film Festival runs until Tuesday 1 August at various locations through the city showing films celebrating Brazilian life and culture, including drama, biography and documentaries - all of which are free to attend.

The UK's largest Samba Carnival event, Brazilica has become one of the flagship events of the year in Liverpool's festival calendar attracting over 60,000 visitors to the city centre.

Liverpool Carnival Company are now looking ahead to next year, and have already started to plan Brazilica 2018. Every year, the company set the bar higher in their efforts to improve the festival and always succeed in finding ways to bring it back bigger and better, so get set for another Brazil-iant event in 2018!

To get involved in Brazilica Festival 2018 as a media partner, sponsor or volunteer or for more information visit the website at razilicafestival.co.uk. Follow on social media at www.facebook.com/brazilicafestival and Twitter @BrazilicaFest.