The Brazilian Carnival, one of the world’s most spectacular festivals, will make its debut in the metaverse in a partnership between two industry leaders – Decentraland and Upland. This year, the Carnival will take place between February 17 and 25, and thousands of metaverse visitors worldwide will have the opportunity to witness the highlights from the venues in Salvador, São Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro.
Lines between the virtual and real worlds are becoming more blurry
This is an essential milestone in Web3 history as it moves us closer to a reality where virtual and physical worlds become interoperable. Following the partnership, Upland’s Co-CEO and Co-founder Dirk Lueth commented, “This is an early example of the future, where interoperability between worlds and metaverses fuels enrichment in a user’s digital life. Major cultural moments like Carnival are tentpoles for opportunities to continue to explore this inevitable future.”
As a metaverse platform mapped to the real world, Upland allows its users to create their own experiences inspired by physical locations like San Francisco and New York. They can, for example, build shops and become a digital landowner. This important feature will be central in the upcoming Brazilian Carnival premiere, as Upland added various festival locations to its map.
Ney Neto, Upland’s Latin America region leader, noted, “The Carnival does not have boundaries, neither the metaverse. Recently Upland launched its APIs, consolidating its position as the metaverse super-app. With this, users, brands and partners can build their experiences on top of the Upland map. For web3 builders and enthusiasts, this collaboration between Upland and Decentraland is pointing the way to go.”
What is in it for the metaverse visitors?
You can explore the Carnival agenda here. The Brazilian Carnival metaverse presentations will include shows taking place in the famous Salvador street carnival, schools and parties across Brazil.
Upland will also present shows from the country’s most prominent samba school, Mangueira. During the presentation, visitors will have the opportunity to purchase carnival costumes. In addition, they will be able to partake in an immersive experience at the Upland mapped location of the Palace of Samba. A Mangueira neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro will be located on the Upland map.
Carnival’s metaverse guests will have a behind-the-scenes experience with school members in the three-dimensional replica of Mangueira’s samba sanctuary, such as the Queen of Drums session. The experience will equip the guests with the school’s history and immerse them in an environment where they can enjoy a first taste of performing samba along with their avatars.
There’ll be live broadcasts, as well. One of them is the Float Car Fissura’s live shows with Band Filhos de Jorge and DJs DH8 and Clara Cady, which will be held in Salvador. During these shows, Miles – Upland metaverse’s mascot – will accompany the participants of the Carnival parties, who are otherwise known as “foliões .”Upland NFT holders will be able to unlock token-gated experiences for the shows.
Decentraland will host Carnival parties with influencers
The well-known metaverse Decentraland will host parties exclusive to the Brazilian Carnival, where guests can dance with their avatars, dress in Carnival costumes, and experiment with the newly launched emojis inspired by samba movements.
Mangueira will have a special venue in the Decentraland, enabling guests to see the pictures from the twenty titles the famous samba school won. Digital influencers, including Nina Verso and Tang Poko, will join the Decentraland Carnival parties and spend time with visitors at the Dollhouse party venue.
About Upland
The Silicon Valley-based Web3 company Upland maps real-world locations to its metaverse. It empowers the community to create immersive experiences while benefiting from the incentives of the built-in economy and providing value to other participants. The Upland app is available on iOS, Android, and the Web.
The company also has hubs in Las Vegas, Ukraine, and Brazil and was named among Fast Company’s “Next Big Things in Tech” in 2021 and one of “22 San Francisco Startups To Watch in 2022” by Built In SF. Upland is committed to being carbon negative, and you can learn about Upland’s sustainability commitment here.
About Decentraland
Decentraland is a virtual world built on the Ethereum blockchain, where users can buy digital pieces of real estate as NFTs. The economy of Decentraland revolves around its native currency, MANA. The company has been open to the public since February 2020 and is overseen by the nonprofit Decentraland Foundation.
