Florianópolis has joined, for the first time, the event Earth hour, by switching off the lights of some main landmarks, such as Hercilio Luz Bridge. In fact, it is the first time that Brazil is participating.
I have also joined by switching off the lights and spending the hour by cycling on the beach with my wife. The night sky was beautiful and we passed the time watching the stars and talking about good things.
Unfortunately I have seen a lot of houses that didn’t turn the lights off. Maybe they didn’t know about it or maybe they simply didn’t care. Not everyone is worried about climate change nor has an idea about the trouble we could get for the future years. The switch off might sound innocent but it is a powerful action if we consider the number of people involved, who care about the climate change. We cannot give up and our individual action will make a difference, even if it is a little one.
However, despite the good initiative, something more effective should be done. I believe the problem lies on our daily habits and if we want to save our planet we must change it in the long term. There is no point to join the Earth hour if we are not recycling the garbage, using less the car, reducing waste, and so on.

Centro sul is the biggest convention center in Florianópolis and it holds important events like fairs, parties, conventions, counting with 15.000m² and good infraestructure right in the city centre.

This week there was a good fair ( Feincartes ) an expositon of national and international artcrafts so I took a chance to visit the fair and buy some interesting stuff. It was crowded but I have enjoyed it as there were stands from countries like India, Egypt, Marrocos, Russian and many others. National artists from other states were also present with great pieces of decoration art.

Business tourism is growing in Florianópolis and the convention center is part of the plan to make the city a major event capital and also to bring more visitors during low season because during summer there are too many already.

Carnaval in South Brazil hasn’t the hype of parties in other cities, like Rio, Salvador, Olinda or São Paulo, neverthless Florianópolis has good parties for anyone looking for fun.

On Saturday (2/2) starting at 22:30pm, Passarela de Samba do Nego Quirido, on City Centre, will be the stage for the tradicional samba schools parade: Unidos da Coloninha, Consulado do Samba, Protegidos da Princesa and Copa Lorde. On Tuesday night the winner’s school will be on Nego Querido for the champion parade.

During all days of Carnaval (1 to 5 February), the city centre ( Largo da Alfândega, Praça XV and Hercílio Luz avenue) will be the place for parties starting from 18h. The Concurso Pop Gay, a popular parade of drag queens and costumes will happen on Monday.

Eletronic music parties are common during this time so the El Divino Club, in Jurerê , will bring famous Djs like Fatboy Slim, David Guetta, Mischa Daniels and Tiësto. Other nightclub venues will also have special nights.

If you are looking for crazy parties filled with young and beautiful people, go down south to seaside towns like Imbituba (Praia do Rosa beach) and Garopaba (Ferrugem beach), where people go mad. Just be careful while driving because a lot of alcohol push people to the edge and accidents rise during this time.

Enjoy Carnaval !