Rio Carnival
Rio Carnival: The traditional carnival in Rio de Janeiro
- one of the world’s most spectacular shows
Rio is perhaps best known for her colorful and musical annual carnival. It is time to look forward to the next Rio Carnival 2012 between February 17th until February 21st - it will be a nice spectacle with samba, beer and sparkling sensuality!
In March 2011, 800 000 people make pilgrimages to Rio to take part in the annual samba festival also called the baddest party on the earth. The carnival (or Carnaval in Portuguese) lasted for 4 days and 4 nights.
At the opening ceremony the mayor of Rio give the city’s keys to “King Momo” (Rei Momo in portuguese) and the carnival king declares the carnival open according to the tradition.
During the carnival is a high pulse and great party-atmosphere with 1,000 blocos (street bands). There are more car accidents and the prices are generally higher, but on the other hand you should not complain since you are at the world’s most famous carnival!
Carnival in Rio is beautiful but can seem a bit monotonous for Brazilians from other regions. Brazilians from other states will tell you with a small touch of envy that the Rio Carnival is almost the same thing every year and they can argue for hours the place for the best carnival. Ok let us face it – gringos in general only have heard about Rio. But the carnivals in Brazil is going on like a tour since the big stars, like Ivette Sangal, can not be in the same place all the time. There are competing carnivals with different flavours in Recife (frevo), Fortaleza and the street carnival in Bahia (Salvador).
The official parade is not free and you must buy ticket for the stadium. The Sambodromo (also known in English as Sambadrome or Sambodrome) is the “stadium” of samba. Carnival on the purpose-built stadium is probably the world’s biggest and greatest show with colorful dancers, drummers and cars for the attention of the audience and jury. It is possible to have a look at the spectacle when they are rehearsal for the Carnival so if you look at some of the big Samba schools you will have a good time. There are also free street parties everywhere.
History of the Rio Carnival
According to one version, the Portuguese from the Azores, Madeira and Cape Verde started the first carnival in Rio in 1723. In the beginning the carnival was a prank in which participants threw water and fruit at each other but the tradition lived on. During the 1800s, the carnival was elegant high society balls, which also usually mentioned in Carnival history. In the 1920s, started the first samba schools.
Samba schools
There are different samba schools that are competing with each other much like sport teams, representing different areas of the city. The subjective competition, when the winner is announced at the ash Wednesday, is very much disputed. The samba schools create floats and costumes, compose music and lyrics and choreograph the dance shows and there’s no cash prize for first place, only a trophy. Tourists can expect to pay between $50 and $100 to hire or buy costumes depending on the prestige of the samba school responsible for creating it.
Karl Pilkington
The Cariocas are rehearsing for carnival, for instance Karl Pilkington went to a training samba in the funny episode when he went to Brazil.
Top 12 samba schools competed in the top league 2011; the lowest-ranking are demoted to the minors.
- Beija-Flor winner 2011
- Unidos da Tijuca (2:nd best 2011)
- Mangueira (3:rd)
- Vila Isabel (4th)
- Salgueiro (5th)
- Imperatriz (6th)
- Mocidade (7th)
- Porto da Pedra
- Sao Clemente
Excluded Samba schools during 2011 from the competitive scoring – because of the big fire. Only four weeks before the start of the carnival was a major fire in Rio de Janeiro.
- Portela
- União da Ilha
- Grande Rio
Carnival in Rio
Future Rio Carnival dates
The carnival is in February or early March depending on the Easter.
2013 dates: February 8th – February 12th
2014 dates: February 28th – March 4th
2015 dates: February 13th – February 17th
2016 dates: February 5th – February 9th
2017 dates: February 24th – February 28th
2018 dates: February 9th – February 13th
2019 dates: March 1rd – March 5th
2020 dates: February 21st – February 25th
2021 dates: February 12th – February 16th
2022 dates: February 25th – March 1st
2023 dates: February 17th – February 21st
2024 dates: February 9th – February 13th
2025 dates: February 28th – March 4th
2026 dates: February 13th – February 17th
2027 dates: February 5th – February 9th
2028 dates: February 25th – February 29th
2029 dates: February 9th – February 13th
2030 dates: March 1st – March 5th
Hotels close to the Carnival
Official Website about the Rio carnival:
www.rio-Carnival.net