How to attend the Carnival of Rio de Janeiro 2020?

From 21 to 26 February 2020, the Rio Carnival will take place: prepare and discover everything you need to know about this Brazilian holiday.

Every year, the weekend before Tuesday-Gras, opens in Brazil a known event from all over the world, which transforms the city of Rio de Janeiro in a gigantic open-air festival for a week: the Rio Carnival . As the Christian tradition wants, it begins just before the beginning of Lent, to mark the next fasting period, which lasts forty days until Easter. Next Tuesday, February 25, 2020, the next edition of the Rio Carnival will be held on the following dates: from Friday, 21 to Wednesday, February 26, 2020.

The Rio Carnival is one of the most extravagant and dionysiacal festivals in the world: the opportunity to have the city of Rio de Janeiro a compelling memory. Rio is the epicenter of the festivities, but almost all the cities in Brazil celebrate the Carnival. For a week at this orgiarism and tonitruating, millions of visitors and premises join the general allegiance to magnify the streets and sublimate the hearts. Here is everything you need to know to attend the 2020 Carnival edition of Rio.

History of the Rio Carnival

The Carnival of Rio finds its historical origin in the pagan festivals of the Middle Ages, like the Mardi Gras. Brazil, formerly a colonial possession of Portugal, suffered less from the Inquisition than other Catholic countries. Indeed, the Reformation and the Counter-Reform did not succeed in annihilating this festivity.

Later, in the 19th century, the Brazilians built on the parades of the Carnival of Paris by the will to free themselves from the old popular traditions of the United States. Thus, it is important to Paris to take a walk on the boulevards full of costumes: the masquerade ball. The first Carnival of Rio was held in 1840 and the polka and waltz danced there: it was necessary to wait until 1917 for the samba to replace them.

Masked costumes and balls in a few words

All over the city, costume balls improvise everywhere. Balls and free concerts beat the crowded atmosphere, sometimes throughout the night: we listen to fanfares and dance the samba intoxicating with caipirinha.

The wearing and display of costumes and masks comes from the Italian carnivals in the modern era. This tradition spreads throughout Europe, including Portugal, which explains the celebration in Brazil of Carnival. The Africans reduced in slavery and imported into America by the "Triangular Trade", impregnated the development of carnival. They used costumes decorated with feathers, bones, grass, stones, to glorify the gods. Today, the sumptuous costumes, the masquerades, the parades in music are heirs to these ancestral African customs, from which the samba also comes.

What to do during the Rio Carnival?

What to do during the Rio Carnival? Eat, drink, dance, and vibrate! If you are one of the lucky ones with the opportunity to arrive in Rio last week of February 2020, you will not miss things to do in Rio.

Attend first official parades of the Sambódromo – or “Sambodrome”, the name of the stadium where the parades take place - which gather the samba schools. Monumental tanks, thousands of festival-goers with refined and colourful costumes: here everything is truly tedious and sardanapalesque.

At the stadium, there are no less than twelve schools that deficient in front of 90,000 spectators, for 80 minutes each of the shows, to try to win the best parade. Percussions, samba do enredo (the chosen musical theme), harmony, singing and dancing, choreography, costumes, scenario and decoration of tanks, must be perfected for a dance school.

Here is the program Carnival parades :

• Friday, February 21, and Saturday, February 22, 2020: Acces or Gold Group demonstration,
• Sunday 23 and Monday 24 February 2020: parades of the Special Group's leading schools,
• Tuesday, February 25, 2020: Samba Junior School Parade,
• Saturday, February 29, 2020: Special Group parade at the Champions Parade.

The Rio Carnival is also 400 street parties all day and all night in the neighborhoods (or blockos in Brazilian Portuguese).

Discover the festivals of the Banda de Ipanema, the Simpatia é Quase Amor, the Imprensa Québec Eu Gamo, or the Monobloco, the Banda de Sá Ferreira, Carmelitas, Céu na Terra, Cordão do Bola Preta, Suvaco de Cristo.

The party takes place in the summer, under a lead sun. Between the parades, immerse yourself in the ocean to refresh yourself a little before returning to the street to try to dance the samba (by imitating the confirmed).

How to get a ticket for the Rio Carnival?

Getting a ticket can be difficult. The event is the subject of a rush to the notes, the price of which is increasing as the due is approaching. As early as September, the association of samba schools began selling tickets.

Later, travel agencies sold far more expensive tickets than they bought them. To be sure not to make you scam, you can either pass by a French agency like the one proposed via the button below, or get a ticket from Riotur Rio prefecture.

It will be the time to choose your area (9, 7, 11, 5, 3) that correspond to the places in the stadium.

Where to stay in Rio during the Carnival?

Several millions of people flock to Rio for the event, also the prices of accommodation can climb up, ration of the offer requires...

We therefore advise you to book your accommodation in Rio very early in advance.

An alternative and inexpensive solution can be to house the inhabitant for the Rio Carnival: Airbnb becomes your best friend.

To be well located in the city, target the Zona Sul, with the Leblon, Ipanema, Copacabana and Botafogo neighborhoods to be at the first lodges of night activities in the seaside.