Carnival in Rio

The biggest attraction for me coming to Rio is Carnaval.  The Rio Carnival has a reputation for its party atmosphere and fanciful parades.  I've seen short videos of the parade but friends who have been here said there's nothing like it anywhere else in the world.  I am combining this part of the tour with the South America Highlights tour, which leaves immediately after this is over.

The celebration starts the day after I arrived in Rio, on Friday, February 9th.  It goes on until Tuesday, February 12, with various block parties, called blocos, all around the city and the main event, the parade of the Samba Schools in the Sambadrome.  Tourists from all over the world come here to celebrate and participate in the biggest party event.

On the day after I arrived, Friday, I heard there'd be a bloco in the Carmelitas area.  My tour leader gave me directions on how to get there and I started out in the late morning.  After 15 minutes from the hotel, I came to a concrete arch structure.  This used to be an aqueduct but today there is a tram riding on top of the arches.  The parade is up the hill by the Santa Teresa church.  I followed some party-goers, dressed in costumes, up the steep streets towards the church.  I was early.  Luckily, I brought my Kindle and was able to past the time away.  Slowly, the crowd start to show up.  Before long I was surrounded by participants, fans, and vendors.  Apparently, anyone can sell drinks, including alcoholic drinks here.  A lot of them just push a cooler filled with water, soft drinks and beer.  By about 2 pm, I was surrounded completely.  At 3 pm, the siren went off, signaling the start of the parade.  To get a better view I ran up a balcony and squeeze myself between a crowd that was already lined up.  What a sight!  People were dressed in all kinds of costumes.  Music was blaring loudly from the truck.  Dancing.  Singing.  Posing.  Everyone was enjoying the moment.

The Arches at Lapa

Escaladria Selaron, colorful steps leading up to Santa Teresa

Amazing Crowd

Some "tall" participants

The next day, on Saturday, February 10th, after a city tour, is the day we were to attend the Carnival parade at the Sambadrome.  This is the highlight of the trip.  It's the Preliminary Schools Parade.  Although it's not as glamorous as the Main Schools Parades on Sunday and Monday evenings, it is still an amazing sight to see.  Each school takes about an hour to go through the length of the Sambadrome, which was built specifically for this purpose.  There are many sections to a schools' contingent.  The amount of effort each school put in to its choreography, costumes, floats, etc, is beyond comprehension.  The details are simply amazing.

Besides the parades, there are block parties (called blocos) everywhere in the city.  These are official block parties, where there are food vendors, portable toilets, band, security, cleaning crew, etc.  They are spread out all over the city and there are at least 5 or 6 listed in the official schedule everyday.  Some are at the beach, some are on a street, and some at a park.  I came across many as I walk around the city.  Some start as early as 8am and some start late in the afternoon.  Here are some pictures of the blocos:

Carnival in Rio is perhaps the biggest mass celebration I've seen anywhere.  It is part of Brazilian culture and everyone here embraces it.  You see residents dressed in costumes at all times of the day.  One thing that stands out is there is very little fightings, in spite of all the alcohol that is consumed.  I saw 1 or 2 but they were quickly snuffed out.  It's time of celebration before 40 days of Lent.