O Homem da Meia-Noite () is a

carnival block Carnival blocks, carnaval blocos or blocos de rua are street bands that mobilize crowds on the streets and are the main popular expression of Brazilian Carnival. These parades fall under the term "street carnival", and happen during a period of abo ...

Olinda Olinda () is a historic city in Pernambuco, Brazil, in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region. It is located on the country's northeastern Atlantic Ocean coast, in the Recife metropolitan area, Metropolitan Region of Recife, the state capi ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. The block was created in 1931 by Luciano Anacleto de Queiroz, Sebastião da Silva, Cosme José dos Santos, Heliodoro Pereira da Silva, and shoemaker Manoel Joaquim dos Santos. It parades on

carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...

Saturday midnight at Olinda's historical center, being the first block to perform. ''

frevo Frevo is a dance and musical style originating from Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil, traditionally associated with Brazilian Carnival. The word ''frevo'' is said to come from ''frever'', a variant of the Portuguese word ''ferver'' (to boil). It is sai ...

'' is the main played rhythm, but others are also played, such as samba and

marchinha Marchinha (, also called "marchinha de carnaval", "marchinha carnavalesca" or "marcha carnavalesca) is one of several genres of music typical of Brazilian Carnival in Rio de Janeiro and Southeast Region of Brazil. The other main carnival genres ar ...

s. O Homem da Meia Noite is an

intangible cultural heritage An intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is a practice, representation, expression, knowledge, or skill considered by UNESCO to be part of a place's cultural heritage. Buildings, historic places, monuments, and artifacts are cultural property. Int ...

Pernambuco Pernambuco () is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.6 million people as of 2020, making it seventh-most populous state of Brazil and with around 98,148 km², being the 19 ...

'' since 2006.

History

Homem da Meia-Noite was founded on February 2, 1931, following an internal dispute at . Luciano Anacleto de Queiroz, Sebastião da Silva, Cosme José dos Santos, Heliodoro Pereira da Silva, and shoemaker Manoel Joaquim dos Santos (Neco Monstro) were not accepted at the block's board, and decided to create the new block. Back then, Cariri Olindense was the first block to parade at Olinda's carnival. Thus, to rival with them, the founders decided to parade at the midnight hour between carnival's Saturday and Sunday, becoming the opening act since then. Later, both blocks have reconciled. Now it is a tradition that Homem da Meia-Noite hands in the city key to Cariri right after its parade. Between 1931 and 1932, Homem da Meia-Noite had only a

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

(with a clock showing midnight hour) and the doll. After, it has incorporated other carnival elements. The block did not parade between 1950 and 1953 due to financial issues.

Family

Other characters have been created in association to Homem da Meia-Noite. ''A Mulher do Dia'' () was created in 1967. The doll only parades on Sunday, thus only meets Homem da Meia Noite when all giant dolls parade together. The figure was created by the craftsman Julião das Máscaras, whom inspired at

Monalisa The ''Mona Lisa'' ( ; it, Gioconda or ; french: Joconde ) is a half-length portrait painting by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described as "the best known ...

. It has long dark hair, a gold tooth smile, and wears yellow and blue in a reference to

Yemọja Yemọja (also: Yemaja, Yemanjá, Yemoyá, Yemayá; there are many different transliterations in other languages) is a major water spirit from the Yoruba religion. She is the mother of all Orishas. She is an orisha, in this case patron spirit of ...

Oshun Ọṣun, is an orisha, a spirit, a deity, or a goddess that reflects one of the manifestations of the Yorùbá Supreme Being in the Ifá oral tradition and Yoruba-based religions of West Africa. She is one of the most popular and venerated ...

. Homem and Mulher were "officially" married in a ceremony in February 1990. ''O Menino da Tarde'' () is the first offspring of the marriage between Homem da Meia-Noite and Mulher do Dia. The figure was create in 1974 also by Julião das Máscaras. He is dressed as an adult. In 1977 ''A Menina da Tarde'' () was created by Sílvio Botelho. The character is vain girl which has news clothes every carnival.

References

Olinda Brazilian Carnival Parades in Brazil Festivals established in 1931 {{Brazil-culture-stub