Regarded as the carnival capital of the World, Rio de Janeiro is home to world's biggest Carnival, involving four days of celebration.
During the month of February, it's carnival all over Rio culminating in the Samba Parade.
The 2018 Rio Carnival officially begins on Friday 9 February 9 and ends on Tuesday of Carnival 13 February.
Visitors who arrive in the city before the official start of the Carnival, can participate in some of the many events that shake Rio de Janeiro in the pre-carnival period.
Main Schools' Parades
This is the most important parade, the highlight of Rio Carnival. The show that makes Rio de Janeiro the capital of the world carnival is a must.
Everything revolves around the Carnival of these two nights.
The schools belonging to this group provide the best spectacle, they are magnificent, surpassing each year in increasingly elaborate and highly visual presentations.
The two nights are similar, in which the 12 best samba schools are divided between Sunday and Monday. Choose the day that best fits your schedule.
The top six in the ranks of the main schools, parade again on 17 February, with fireworks and great happiness to be among the Champions.
Parades begin at 10pm.
Preliminary Schools' Parade
There are 14 big samba schools in this group, where the Champion will parade between the 12 schools between the main schools the following year, causing a very interesting dispute.
Due to the greater number of schools parading in a single night, the parade time for each of them is slightly lower than that granted to each of the main schools.
The parades start at 9pm
Children's Schools Parade
Here you can see the next generations of each samba school from the earliest age already involved in Carnival, including the same disputes and rivalries.
Children from all participating communities learn early to defend the colours of their schools.
It is important to note that in order to participate in the parades, all children must prove that they are enrolled in school, since in most communities a very interesting social work is done throughout the year, and the fight against school dropout is the main line of action in all of them.
As a prize for the year of study, the small samba artists can parade through their respective junior schools. Their parade follows the procedure of the great schools.
The parade start at 7:00 p.m.
Carnival balls
Rio de Janeiro, the capital of Carnival, offers a huge variety of carnival balls that take place in the pre-carnival period and during the carnival. Certainly one of them will suit your profile.
Most dances have tickets at very reasonable prices and take place in places where the reveller arrives without major difficulties.
The great exception is the dance at the Copacabana Palace hotel, the most luxurious in the city, aimed at an audience that wants to enjoy the carnival without giving up sophistication. In this ball the obligatory attire is black-tie or luxury fancy.
Other dances take place in Scala, located in the centre of the city, very close to the Cinelândia subway station. Clube dos Caiçaras and the Hard Rock Café da Folia also organize lively fancy dance for adults and children.
Rehearsals at Samba Halls
Each samba school in Rio has its Samba Hall.
In the carnival period, the blocks open their doors and everyone is welcome to participate in a big party, which only increases up to the day of the final.
From the choice of the samba song of the year, every week the halls receive visitors who learn to sing the chosen samba, have fun and dance samba al night long.
These events count on the participation of the main elements of the schools, such as the drumming band, samba singers the old guard, the latter composed by the oldest members of the associations.
The samba here is expressed in its purest essence, and the courts receive a very diverse audience, with people of all ages honouring their school and participating in the championship fight. Worth going at least once!
Do not expect to find luxurious or very comfortable facilities, but the party is guaranteed!
The best known, the Mangueira, Salgueiro, Unidos da Tijuca and Vila Isabel are located within a distance that can be made by taxi at a very reasonable price, starting from the South Side of the city.
Other Samba Blocks are in the distant suburbs, so it's not advisable to go without someone who knows their way back. Some of them are very far, even outside the metropolitan area of Rio.
Mangueira, which has the biggest, safest and most famous hall, with lots of tourists and lots of security (although you can feel intimidated, if not shocked, at first).
The parties have begun to warm up long before Carnival, but from Saturday to Carnival Tuesday, there are outdoor parties throughout the city.
All bars and sidewalks become a meeting point for a string if impromptu parties.
It is also worth visiting the outdoor area on the outskirts of the Sambodromo, on the days of the Parades, where large crowds gather, all wanting to take photos or simply witness the preparation of samba schools for entry into the parade.