This is the best part of Rio Carnival: freestyle, crazy, alcoholic street parties taking place everywhere in the city. Parties follow the street carnival bands, called “Blocos de Rua“. In 2012 more than 400 blocos were on the streets, and the number is increasing. This is a reaction to the commercialization of Rio carnival: Rio street carnival has no sponsor and no authority, and many Cariocas think that the authentic soul of Carnival si here, rather than at the Sambadrome Parade.

Some “Blocos de Rua“:

Banda de Ipanema. One of the well-known bands, parading from Rua Gomes Carneiro to Praça General Osório in Ipanema (and also on the beach at sunset). This bloco is known for its fancy dresses and for the crazy drag queens participating to the parades.

Cordão do Bola Preta. The oldest and biggest bloco of Rio (in 2011 2.3 million people took part at the parade), partying from Largo da Candelária to Avenida Rio Branco in Centro.

Carmelitas. Parading in Santa Teresa, along Rua Almirante Alexandrino. This bloco is named after the legend of a Carmelite nun who escaped from the convent to reach the carnival. That’s way you will see many people wearing a colored veil.

Cordão do Boitatá. From Rua do Mercado along Rua do Ouvidor to Praça XV in Downtown. A quiet and safe street party, ideal for kids and families.

Que Merda é Essa?! Literally meaning “What the shit is this?”, the name of this bloco reflects its wild and counter-current character. It is considered one of the best blocks in Rio, parading in Ipanema from Rua Garcia D’ávila along Avenida Vieira Souto to the border of Leblon.

Monobloco. Not playing only samba, this is another trendy bloco. It parades on Avenida Rio Branco and Avenida Presidente Vargas in Cinelândia.

Simpatia é Quase Amor. If you are young and willing to flirt, this is your bloco. The name means “Sympathy is nearly love” and the group parade from Praça General Osório in Ipanema, along the shoreline to Leblon.

Suvaco do Cristo. This is the bloco for nature lovers, parading through the amazing Rio Botanical Garden from Rua Jardim Botânico.

Céu na Terra. The bloco “Heaven on earth” parading in Santa Teresa is one of the most colorful, with its puppets and fancy costumes. From Rua Dias de Barros in front of Serginho Bar.

Carnival is a European traditional party, landed in Brazil with the Portuguese ships. Its origins are very old, dating back to the Ancient Greeks, who used to celebrate spring in honor of Dionysus, the god of wine. But carnival has been deeply transformed by the contact with Brazil and its African and Indios roots. Brazilian carnival needed centuries to develop as we know it today. At the beginning carnival in Brazil was a party for rich people (included the Emperor) with European music (Polkas, Waltzes and Mazurkas)… can you imagine?

Than samba happened and carnival became Brazilian: a black-hearted party where the poor express their voice and outstanding creativity, being able to forget the weight of life for a while.

Samba happened at the end of the XIX century in a poor area of Rio de Janeiro called “Little Africa“, the cradle of samba. Pequena Africa was inhabited by black people as Hilaria Batista de Almeida, nicknamed Tia Ciata. She was a tia baiana, an “aunt from Bahia”: a women dressed in traditional white costume coming from the north -and carrying with her the black tradition of Candomble. Samba was born in her house, among drums and handclaps.

After that many things happened -the Schools of Samba, the rules, the sponsors, the commercialization of Rio carnival. Nevertheless this huge party, the biggest show on earth, holds the power to turn the world upside down.

Here is the highlight of Rio Official Carnival: the 4 days Parade at the Sambadrome. It is a furious competition among Samba Schools, with 3/5.000 people parading and 90.000 watching. 90 minutes is the time granted to each Samba School to complete the parade. Each school lines up 8 floats, several sections afoot (each composed of 100 people with the same costume) and, of course, a band playing original music. Each school chooses a theme: can be an animal, a famous personality or an historic event. Costumes, floats, music and choreography: everything needs to be related to the main theme. Each school will be judged by a jury of 40 experts under several respects: percussion band, samba song, harmony, flow and spirit of the participants, theme of the year, overall impression, floats and props, costumes, vanguard group, the flag carrying couple.

The parades start at 8/9.00 pm and end at 5.00 in the morning.

Samba Schools are not schools in the strict sense, but big associations of neighbors, normally coming from the favelas, the poorest areas of Rio de Janeiro. Financed by important organizations and bold sponsors, they are the leading actors of Rio Sambadrome Parade, where each school lines up from 3.000 to 5.000 members.

People work voluntarily for schools, in change of some sort of social assistance. The preparation for the carnival competition lasts for months: the choice of the theme, the creation of costumes and floats, the music composition and, of course, many many rehearsals. Each school has 90 minutes to parade and convince the jury to be the best.

Some Samba Schools & 2013 Themes

Beija Flor (Humming Bird). Considered to be the most competitive samba school, it has big sponsors and is well-known for its crazy and colorful creativity. For 2013 carnival Beija Flor chose the following theme: “Sao Luis – Maranhao`s bewitched poem”, in honor of Sao Luis, the multicultural capital of Maranhão state, in the north of Brazil, where French, Dutch and Portuguese roots mix together.

Mangueira. This is the oldest samba school of Rio, the first one to win the Sambadrome Parade. The 2013 chosen theme is: “I will celebrate! I’m cacique, I’m Mangueira”, in honor of Cacique de Ramos, one of the most traditional samba schools of Rio, celebrating its 50th anniversary.

Portela. Among the oldest samba schools, Portela can be recognized by its symbol: an eagle. It collected 21 Titles, being therefor the first winner of Rio’s Carnival ever. Portela 2013 carnival theme: “…and people singing on the streets, is like a prayer, a ritual…”, in honor of Bahia and its black and fascinating religion, the Candomblé.

Sao Clemente. The most political samba school, giving voice to the difficult living conditions of the poor in Rio. In 1987 real street children were parading for the school. The interesting 2013 theme is: “A musical adventure on Sapucaí”. The ambitious purpose is turning operas into samba.

Unidos da Yijuca. This very traditional samba school focuses on the colonial and Portuguese heritage of Rio de Janeiro and is attended by many gays. The 2013 parade theme is: “The day royalty landed the avenue to have king Louis Crowned”, in honor of the musician Luiz Gonzaga, died in 1989.

Not only you can assist to the parade, but you also can parade yourself at the Sambadrome, in support of the samba school you like the best.

To participare at the Sambadrome Parade, you need to:

1. Choose your samba school
2. Buy a costume
3. Download and learn by heart the song of your samba school
4. Be punctual at the meeting of your school the Parade day
5. Give your best in the 50 minutes experience at the Sambadrome

You can do the first 3 steps online. The best website to do it is Rio-carnival.net. The 2013 carnival costumes will be available on November 2012. You will not need any rehearsal and you will copy the mouvements of your fellow paraders.