( dpa ) - The traditional Night of the Silent Drums, held during Carnival in the north-eastern Brazilian city of Recife, gathered more than 5,000 people in the early hours of Tuesday, Brazilian state news agency ABR reported.
The event started at midnight in the capital of the state of Pernambuco, and featured over 20 bands that played maracatu - a rhythm of African origin that is typical in the area - in the Patio del Terco, a church in central Recife which is a pillar of African- Brazilian religions.
The ceremony starts when the lights go out and the drums stop playing. The "maes de santo" - priestesses of the Afro-Brazilian religion Umbanda - start sing out together in prayer.
In order "to receive the energy that comes from up high," participants lift up their hands, request light and express their gratitude for divine grace.
"I am sure that all the saints were looking this way. I felt that Iansa was here with me," the "mae de santo" Luzinete Maria dos Santos said, with reference to the goddess that commands the rite.
After half-an-hour of silence - a sort of oasis amid the joyful music of Carnival across Brazil - the lights go back on and the drums start playing again, launching a party that continues till dawn.