The history of carnival in Brazil
The first carnival events in Brazil date back to the imperial period. Slaves dressed in costumes, during a festival of African origin called entrudo, threw liquids and food on passers-by. The imperial authorities prohibited this festival because of the frequent misbehavior, but the children of the "good families" took a liking to these festive episodes, and in the 19th century, the good society began to organize "carnival balls" in clubs and theaters. The wealthy classes of Rio de Janeiro also created societies that paraded the streets of the city. The more popular classes did not abandon their carnival practices despite police repression. At the end of the 19th century, they created carnivals disguised as religious processions. The ranchos were carnivalesque events practiced mainly by people of rural origin. Gradually, the carnival would evolve into its modern forms. The carnival marchinhas, and their samba rhythm, appeared at the end of the 19th century and in 1910 respectively. The African origins of the carnival people were affirmed in Salvador, with the creation of the afoxés, with the frevo in Recife and the Maracatu in Olinda at the beginning of the 20th century. Two tendencies were to coexist without mixing. The rich Cariocas paraded with their horse-drawn carriages until 1930 while the popular classes gathered in the samba schools. The first samba school competition was held in 1929. During the Vargas era, the samba schools had to register with the authorities and were subject to strict control by the administration, which was afraid of potential popular outbursts. The famous "Trio Eletrico" appeared in 1950 and the success of these semi-trailers with loudspeakers was such that the idea spread to many cities in the country. From the 1960's on, the Rio carnival and samba schools became a very touristy activity that attracts millions of people from Brazilian cities and from all over the world. The Brazilian business community and the leaders of the lucrative and "clandestine" jogo do bicho lottery saw these cultural events as investment opportunities. The municipality of Rio began to install bleachers and charge spectators. In 1984, the great Oscar Niemeyer designed the Sambόdromo Marquês de Sapucaí, the epicenter of the carnival parades. Many lesser-known cities have also embraced the carnival craze since the 1960s.
Rio carnival today
Rio is the world's most organized carnival and the planet's biggest party event. It officially lasts for 5 days, from Friday evening to Mardi Gras, but the festivities actually begin long before that, in the samba schools or through popular entertainment. The highlight of these 5 days of festivities is, of course, the samba school parade: the city's 12 best schools parade two nights in a row before 70,000 spectators on the terraces of avenue Marquês de Sapucaí, the official address of the Sambodrome. The organization imposes a strict and immutable protocol. Each school composes its performance around a theme, called theenredo. This theme can be politically inspired, or focus on nature, sport, art, music and so on. The Unidos da Tijuca school, for example, triumphed in 2012 with a parade around the musician Luiz Gonzaga, the master of forró, who would have turned 100 that year. In 2018, the favorites were the famous Mangueira and Salgueiro, and yet, to the detriment of the prognosis, it was Beija-Flor who won the edition with a parade on the theme of corruption, violence and all the ills the country has suffered in recent years. The Viradouro school won in 2020, and 2021 was a year without carnival, due to Covid-19. In 2022, it returned in April. In 2024, it was the Viradouro school that once again topped the podium with the enredo Arroboboi, Dangbé, celebrating Brazil's African heritage.
Each school invents its own song (the samba de enredo), some of which become hits. They create costumes, choreography and multicolored floats, and rehearse for months on end. In fact, it's possible and recommended to attend these rehearsals at the schools, the very souls of the working-class neighborhoods where they are based. Sunday and Monday evenings of Carnival are the key days when the best schools parade. Each school has 80 minutes and between 3,500 and 4,000 participants to convince the crowd and jurors of the originality of its theme, its cohesion and the quality of its choreography, floats and costumes. At the end of the two-day parade, a jury of experts hands out scores for each dimension of the parade (similar to the method used in figure skating), evaluated by the twenty-two carnival jurors. On Sunday at 9pm, a first-category school (the Grupo Especial) opens the parade. The Abre-Alas present the school's name, followed by the Comissão da Frente, a dozen celebrities, including some from the school, and allied celebrities, already in costume and dancing to their choreography. Then come the thousands of dancers and hundreds of percussionists, the bateria, with their uniform movements, accompanied by the singing of the Puxadores, broadcast over the loudspeakers and followed by a hundred Bahian women in traditional dress, whatever the school. On floats, in a profusion of feathers and rhinestones, the Destaques and at least eight Alegorias advance, human figures or giant puppets. Their height is limited to 10 m. Alongside them twirl the Passistas, elite dancers, and solo percussionists. The impressive procession stretches over 500 m. Six schools take part each evening, from 9 p.m. to dawn. The winner is chosen on Tuesday, and crowned during the Parade of Champions (the 6 best schools of the year) held the following Saturday, in an atmosphere of general jubilation. The red lantern (the school finishing 12th ) is demoted to the lower division, and the winner of Group A has the honour of joining the following year's Grupo Especial parade!
Despite the inevitable mercantile excesses of the world's major festive events, from which the Rio carnival cannot escape, the crazy, necessarily irrational atmosphere that bathes the marvellous city is undoubtedly a festive experience, but above all a human one, where we can better grasp the soul of a people who dance and sing at every moment of their lives to sometimes forget the difficulties of everyday life.
Attend the carnival, a stay that can be anticipated
To attend Carnival in Rio, you need to plan your trip well in advance, as accommodation is booked very early... and often at very high, even exorbitant prices, usually in the form of a pacote, i.e. a minimum number of nights. It's a good idea to book a year in advance. To gain access to the Sambódromo on parade days, tickets must be purchased from travel agencies in France or Brazil. At present, there is one official organizer and reseller, the Independent League of Samba Schools of the Grupo Especial de Rio (Liesa). Unfortunately, there are no online sales with Liesa, but reservations can be made by telephone on +55 21 2233 8151. Prices can become excessive if you go through unscrupulous resellers. Ticket prices at Liesa range from 20 reais for the cheapest to several thousand reais. Buying tickets at LIESA is sometimes complicated for foreigners without a CPF. To get your tickets, you can go through a reputable agency (www.annabelleinriodejaneiro.com) or visit www.rio-carnival.net/carnaval or www.camarotecarnaval.com. Agencies logically take a commission, so it's best to shop around. Prices can vary from R$230 to R$1,000, or even much more, depending on the location and the day.
Shows de ensaios. From November onwards, if you're in Rio, you can attend the ensaios shows. This is one of the last stages in the samba schools' preparation for the parade. All are open to the public. The ensaios shows feature the various components of the samba school groups: drummers, soloists and flag bearers, samba dancers and musicians. They take place in school courtyards on Fridays and Saturdays. It's the most popular rehearsal with tourists, because it's the most festive. It's a foretaste of the carnival madness. Some schools perform on Fridays, others on Saturdays. Schools in the southern zone are easier to reach and safer for tourists. Here's a selection of the best samba schools: Mangueira School (Estação Primeira de Mangueira, rua Visconde de Niterói, 1072, Mangueira), Academicos do Salgueiro School (Rua Silva Teles, 104 - Andaraí), Imperio Serrano School (Av. Ministro Edgar Romero, 114 - Madureira). Other popular schools include École Unidos de Tijucá (Avenida Francisco Bicalho, 47, Leopoldina), École de Vila Isabel (Unidos de Vila Isabel, boulevard 28 de Setembro, 382, Vila Isabel).
Street carnivals. More accessible, these are perhaps the best. Bandas or blocos gather thousands of people, by district, by theme, behind a bateria or trio elétrico (truck with baffles and a stage). The political or even philosophical themes of the moment reappear in unlikely ways, in the samba lyrics of a bloco. Here are some of the best blocos, in Ipanema and Copacabana: the "Banda do Ipanema" (the first banda, created in 1965) leaves from the praça General Osório on Carnival Saturday. There's also the "Banda Simpatia é quase amor", which departs from the same Osório square on Sundays.
In Copacabana, on the Avenida Atlântica, there are four or five parades: the "Banda do Arroxo" leaves from Belford Roxo, "Sá Ferreira" leaves from Sá Ferreira street, "Vergonha do Posto 6" starts from rua Francisco Sà... Opposite the Bip-Bip (rua Almirante Gonçalves, Copacabana), the "Bloco de Bip Bip", on Saturday night, is renowned for its music.
One can be torn between the desire to attend this event, where everything takes on unconventional proportions (like everything else in Brazil, in fact), but where there's no denying the commercial drift... and the desire to be in the spirit of the carnival of its origins, that of the street, of the disenfranchised. To put it simply, the curious visitor can soak up these two mutually exhaustive forms of carnival, one feeding off the other. The almost mystical frenzy of preparation for costumes and parades is a key element in the "Brazilianness" of the carnival.
