Carnival Parades in Brazil

Brazilian Carnival is an annual festival held the Friday afternoon before Ash Wednesday at noon. For 2024, it fell on February 9 and continued until the 14th. However, the party starts from January and goes on till March. It is always a big festival which involves lots of plannings and rehearsals especially for Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo Samba schools. Samba schools participate in competitions against each other during parades along Sambadromes, both in Rio and São Paulo, with their costumes and floats depicting one theme or the other and graced by fans in the audience.

To participate in these samba schools’ parades, you need to buy tickets that range from about $15 upward and this festival draws tourists from all around the world and not to mention the participation of famous people, nationally and internationally. It’s a big economic boom for Brazil, as hotels, airlines, businesses take advantage of the event to boost their earnings, as this falls in the high season period.

Apart from the competitive schools’ parades, carnival festival takes place in other cities and states of Brazil, just for entertainment and fun and even on the streets “Street Parades,” where everyone can participate without any purchased tickets. There are many different “blocos” that parade on the streets; for instance, one of the most popular and famous ones take place in Bixiga, in São Paulo.

Esfarrapados Street Block
Credit: Leco Viana/Thenews2

The Viradouro Samba School with its theme’s tribute to black women, won the Rio Carnival parade defeating the other Samba Schools in a very tight competition, while Mocidade Alegre samba school won that of São Paulo. Dragões da Real and Acadêmicos do Tatuapé won the second and third places in São Paulo, respectively.

Two of the biggest soccer teams in Brazil; Palmeiras and Corinthians, are represented in the Carnival Parade by Mancha Verde and Gaviões da Fiel respectively.

By Niyi Fote/Thenews2