Carnival 2010 Guide

Tickets, balls, and a complete Carnival agenda.

Rio Carnival 2010 Date
It starts on Friday February 12th and ends on Ash Wednesday February 17th.
For more information, feel free to visit our sister site www.brazilbookers.com with more in depth information on 2010 Rio Carnival. Feel free to jump ahead:

• Samba Parade
  
• Carnival Balls
  
• Street Parties
  
• Samba Schools Rehearsals
  
• Sambodromo Rehearsals

The Samba Parade at the Sambodromo
It's the main event of Rio Carnival with its colorful costume, giant floats surrounded by thousands of exuberant samba dancers and heart-pound drummers. 90,000 people watch it up and close from the bleachers, frisas and the luxury suites. It’s truly the focus and the main element of the entire festival in Rio de Janeiro. The main

Rio Carnival Samba Parades are:
Samba Schools in the Special Group
Day 1 Sunday - February 14 and
Day 2 Monday - February 15

These are the most important parades and the ones everybody watches on the TV. The twelve sumptuous samba schools are divided in two nights of equal setting.

Samba Schools in the Access Group
Saturday - February 13. One night only.

Twelve schools will “fight” to get a place on the Special Group. It’s a serious competition offering its viewers with a great show for the ticket price charged. It’s also our favorite night for getting a costume and joining the parade.

Winners Parade
Saturday – February 20. One night only.
Winner and five runner-ups will have a second opportunity to parade. Now with no competition. It’s a celebration of the winners of the Special Group offering an spectacle worth seeing. Same show with gorgeous costumes, same floats, same glory but without the pressure of a perfect presentation. Tickets are more affordable than those of the main previous parades in the middle of carnival days.

Carnival Balls
Carnival Balls are part of the Rio Calendar, far from the Sambadrome and its parades. The most famous carnival balls are:

Rio Scala Balls
From Thursday February 11 to Tuesday February 16.
Thursday, February 11th - Mangueira Carnival Ball
Friday, February 12th - Red and Black Ball
Saturday, February 13th - Ball of the Marvelous City
Sunday, February 14th - A Night in Ibiza
Monday, February 15th - Ball of the ´Beer´
Tuesday, February 16th - Gay Costume Ball
Magic Ball at the Copa
Saturday, February 14, 2010 - 11 PM to 4 AM.
The most glamorous party in Rio.

Bal Masqué at the Rio Sofitel Hotel
Friday, February 20, 2010 - 11 PM to 4 AM.

Street Parties and Bands
In whatever place you are, there will be a bloco or a banda organized by cariocas, residents of Rio. For some people, the street parties are the best Carnival has to offer. These are made by a samba school or a gather of people who doesn't enter the carnival parading competition. Copacabana is full of bands, so is Ipanema. Banda de Ipanema and Banda da Carmem Miranda are the most coveted and year expected street bands.

Here's a list of bands and blocos you don't want to miss.
The best Carnival bands are:

• Cordao do Bola Preta - Downtown
  
• Banda de Ipanema - Ipanema.
  
• Suvaco do Cristo - Botanic Garden
  
• Carmelitas - Santa Teresa.

The most famous Carnival Street Bands are:

• Simpatia é Quase Amor - Ipanema
  
• Banda de Ipanema - Ipanema
  
• Monobloco - Copacabana
  
• Bip-Bip - Copacabana

Samba School Rehearsals
For those who arrive at least a week before carnival, go and get a taste of the samba schools at their clubs, generally located within the local communities or close. They take place on weekends from August to the Sunday before Carnival - February 8 this year.

From January on, the schools are packed with tourists, rio residents and the communities. Most school are close to favelas but it's save to get a taxi there and back. Mangueira and Salgueiro offer the most famous rehearsals and easier access. The gay friendly Unidos da Tijuca is located close to Rodoviaria Novo Rio.

Technical Rehearsals at the Sambodromo
Technical rehearsals – Ensaios Técnicos in Portuguese - are like the main parade, with the same samba, drummers, the flag bearer and her escort. The costumes and the floats are the only two elements not shown here for obvious reasons. The technical rehearsals attract an enormous crowd of locals and are really worth taking part of.

It's free. If you have the chance to attend, we recommend you not to miss it.

Here’s the official schedule of the technical rehearsals for the 2010 Rio Carnival