Samba Schools – Rio de Janeiro

The Samba Schools usually belong to a particular neighborhood or in some cases a “favela”, the name given to a shanty town in Brazil. Each samba school usually has a particular interest in political, commercial or social, and often plays an important role in the development of the resort. A few months before the Carnival, begin preparations for the Samba Parade.

The parade of samba school does not happen by chance, first of all, every year we choose a theme that will inspire the allegories, the floats, costumes and samba enredo, that is the song that each school will offer.

The desire of every school is to reach the highest levels and even be able to pull the legendary Sambadrome, designed by Oscar Niemeyer, which since 1984 is the temple of the samba schools in the days of Carnival in Rio de Janeiro.

Before the event important to the Sambadrome the samba schools are evidence-parade from August to December. These tests are held once or twice a week and are open to the public. Participate in these shows is easy, just go directly to the place where you will find the samba school that you want to visit, and you will have the opportunity to listen to samba music and see some of the best samba dancers in Rio de Janeiro. Since many of the schools are in “favelas”, you may want to visit those who are not too far from the main shopping areas of the city. Mangueira is the school’s largest and most safe to visit and attracts a lot of tourists every year and there are always adequate security measures.

There are more than 70 samba schools of Rio, and all take part in the annual carnival celebrations. Each school has its own colors and brand. Some of the famous schools include Mangueira, Salgueiro and Beija Flor are the most popular schools, while Mocidade Portela and are among the oldest schools.
The samba schools are financed through the sale of tickets for the tourists who want to visit the samba school, or from the Sambadrome parade or some sponsorship.

The samba schools parade at the panel Sambodrono and there are thousands of Brazilians and tourists who live this unforgettable experience. People can participate in the parade mask along the route or singing and dancing from the stands and from the balconies of the Sambadrome.

The main Samba Schools are:

• Beija-Flor
• Rio Grande
• Imperatriz
• Inocentes de Belford Roxo
• Mangueira
• Mocidade
• Portela
• Porto da Pedra
• Salgueiro
• Sao Clemente
• Uniao da Ilha
• Unidos da Tijuca
• Vila Isabel

If you want to participate in the parade along with the samba schools, you can choose and book the one you want and live event intesamente
as a Brazilian. First you must choose the school with which to participate, then try and get your costume and then you are ready to remove. You do not need to experiment because during the parade there will be employees of the school that will help you, you just have to follow their directions and times when they parade and dance.

You will learn the steps and the pace of the march with the paraders school on track for the parade. The school staff will provide you with a text of the song that will be sung during the parade at the Sambadrome. I recommend impare the lyrics by heart, it will be an unforgettable experience. Most participants wear costumes in the street or outside the Sambadrome, after there will be a check of the paraders of the school to the finish of the costume and recommendations.

The costs of costumes vary and depend on the date you wish to remove. On Saturday, the costs are affordable compared to Sunday and Monday where there will be major parades. The costumes must be ordered before December 31 and vary between 300-700 euro, after that period, you will have more availability.

The costumes may be available by contacting the samba schools or by contacting agencies that deal with this type of organization.

Try to get to the parade well rested, because you in 80 minutes, walk and dance without stopping. We remind you that you will dance with costumes then you will lose a lot of water and you will be dehydrated. Drink plenty of water and fruit juices because they will be subjected to a considerable effort with a temperature very hot and you’re not used to.