It’s time to buy a ticket and travel to Rio de Janeiro. In precisely 28 days the city will be invaded by the contagious joy of Carnival. It is true that the blocks and samba schools’ rehearsals are already warming the tambourines and attracting thousands of local revelers to the streets and samba schools’ compounds. The party starts officially on Friday, March 1st, and lasts until Wednesday morning, on the 6th. However, on the weekends that precede the event, as well as on the 9th and 10th, there will also be parades of blocks and samba schools. According to the official agencies, more than 7 million people – 1.5 million of whom being tourists – are expected to participate in the street parties and in the Sambadrome, place of the samba schools’ parade. The impact in the city’s economy is estimated at R$ 3.5 billion.
Soon after the new year’s, on January 6th, tens of blocks spontaneously occupied the streets of Downtown Rio, thus informally opening the party. However, during Carnival, everyone follows a schedule organized by the city council. The party has an appointed day, time and route. Over 500 blocks are part of the programming and spread joy through the streets of the South, North, West zones and Downtown. The larger and most famous block, Cordão da Bola Preta, attracts more than 1 million people to the streets Downtown. The parade, that includes several cars with loudspeakers, is the most traditional of the Saturday of Carnival.
Considered the greatest show on Earth, the samba schools parade occupies the schedule of Avenida Marquês de Sapucaí, in Downtown Rio. The public can watch the show from VIP boxes, friezes or stands. The capacity, increased after the renovations carried out to receive the competitions of the 2016 Olympic Games, is of 72 thousand people per night. Overall, 27 samba schools cross the 700 meters of the avenue, divided in Groups A and Special. The latter gathers the Carnival elite, with traditional schools like Mangueira, Portela, Salgueiro and Beija-Flor. The competition between the schools take place from Friday to Monday. On Saturday the 9th, the six best ranked schools’ parade. It is a unique experience.
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