The story
Homem da Meia-Noite in Olinda
Olinda's Carnival opens at midnight with the appearance of a giant puppet called the Homem da Meia-Noite on a balcony above the historic hillside streets, a tradition rooted in local folklore about a neighbor who once complained about Carnival noise. The brief ceremony draws large crowds into the colonial center to mark the formal start of days of parades, bonecos gigantes and street bands that follow.
Just before midnight on the Saturday that opens Olinda's Carnival, a giant puppet known as the Homem da Meia-Noite appears on a balcony above the historic hillside streets to declare the celebration officially open, a ritual that has become as central to Olinda's identity as the giant papier-mache caricature figures, the bonecos gigantes, that march through the same lanes in the days that follow.