What is the Rio Carnival?
Quick answer
The Rio Carnival is a huge festival held every year in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the days before Lent, usually in February or early March. Its highlights are the spectacular samba school parades in the Sambadrome and hundreds of free street parties called blocos.
Key facts
- Country
- Brazil
- When
- The Friday to Ash Wednesday before Lent
- Main venue
- The Sambadrome (Sambódromo), opened 1984
- Music
- Samba
The samba school parades
Rio’s top samba schools (escolas de samba) are community groups, many from Rio’s working-class neighborhoods, that spend the whole year preparing.
| Element | What it involves |
|---|---|
| Theme (enredo) | A story, often about history, culture or a famous person |
| Samba song | A new song written each year for the theme |
| Floats | Giant, elaborate moving sculptures |
| Dancers | Thousands of performers in costume per school |
| Drum section (bateria) | Hundreds of drummers keeping the beat |
Each school parades for around 70 minutes in front of judges, who score categories such as music, costumes and harmony. The winner is announced on Ash Wednesday.
The Sambadrome
Designed by famous Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, the Sambadrome opened in 1984. It’s a 700 m parade avenue lined with stands for about 70,000 spectators.
Blocos: street parties
Outside the Sambadrome, hundreds of blocos fill the streets with music and dancing. Some draw more than a million people. Anyone can join, often in costume.
Where Carnival comes from
Carnival traditions came to Brazil with Portuguese colonists, mixing European pre-Lent festivals with African music and dance brought by enslaved people. Samba grew from Afro-Brazilian communities in Rio in the early 20th century.
Carnivals around the world
| City | Famous for |
|---|---|
| Rio de Janeiro | Samba parades |
| Venice | Masks; see the Venice Carnival |
| New Orleans | Mardi Gras parades and beads |
| Port of Spain, Trinidad | Calypso and soca music |
| Salvador, Brazil | Street parades with music trucks |
Rio’s famous landmark watches over the city; see the city with the Christ the Redeemer statue.
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