Samba, Carnaval & São Paulo's African-Brazilian Cultural Heritage

São Paulo's Carnaval (the São Paulo Carnival — the second largest Carnival in Brazil after Rio de Janeiro, held in the Sambódromo do Anhembi in the Santana neighbourhood every February — a spectacle of Brazilian popular culture, music, and dance that is as much a product of São Paulo's African-Brazilian community as of the Carioca culture of Rio) and the samba tradition (the music and dance form that originated in the African-Brazilian community of Rio de Janeiro and Salvador da Bahia and became the national music of Brazil) are at the core of São Paulo's cultural identity.