Visit to the Brazilian Carnival


The Carnival in Brazil which officially begins on Friday February 17th 2012 and culminates on Wednesday February 22th 2012 has a number of events and activities all of which entertaining and thrilling. A holiday during Carnival time needs to be well planned so that visitors make the most of their time, money and don’t miss any of the action.

The Rio Carnival 2012

Program Guide of Rio Carnival 2012


The carnival kicks off with the traditional opening ceremony. The Mayor of Rio will hand over the keys of the city to the reigning King of the Carnival popularly known as Momo. This is symbolic of the city being handed over to the revelers for the five day long Carnival.
The first of Samba Parades, the Children’s Parade will take place in the Sambodromo. In this entertaining event, children belonging to branches of the big Samba schools will perform in the Sambodromo. This is a ticketed event and extremely enjoyable particularly for families.
 The Black and Red Ball at the Scala Night Club dedicated to Rio’s football team, the Flamengos will raise the spirits of the evening. Well attended by celebrities, this is the first big bash of the Carnival.




Carnival begins with the Cordão do Bola Preta street party. Roughly translated to the Polka Dot Blocos, this parade plays hip-twitching Samba music and moves with its crowd of ardent followers though Rio’s historic downtown area.      
The hugely popular Banda de Ipanema will conduct its second block party of the festival. Crowds mostly in attention-grabbing costumes will begin to gather by mid-afternoon at Praça General Osório in Ipanema. At 16:00 the band will begin to play their most popular numbers and the frenziedstreet carnival parade will begin.

The second Samba Parade in the Sambodromo will begin with Rio’s tier two Samba Schools(Access Group). Twelve schools will compete and the winner will receive the prestigious honor of entering the top tier Samba Schools or Special group. Tickets for this event are easier to get and generally more affordable.

The Carnival in Salvador Bahia

The Carnival in Salvador Bahia is vastly different from the Rio Carnival’s more structured events. The Bahian version consists of a six day long parade of Trios Electricos. These are massive trucks filled with sound equipment and with a stage at the top on which well-known bands perform. Frenzied fans follow the trucks through the streets of the city with numbers reaching as high as 2 million. Detailed program guides on which bands will perform and when are usually provided in January every year. As information is released, it will be posted here to allow for prompt ticket arrangements.

The Carnival in Recife-Olinda

Brazilians love to travel to Recife-Olinda at Carnival time making this location a great option for celebrating with the locals. In Recife stages are built in key parts of the city on which dancers and bands perform Samba and other music in front of a few hundred thousand. The carnival goes on for all five days in Recife but on Saturday at 5am, its most popular event takes place – the Galo da Madrugada. Thousands gather at the crack of dawn in the central streets of the Recife to celebrate the beginning of the Carnival.

The 2012 Sao Paulo Carnival

The Sao Paulo Samba School Parade competitions will take place on Friday 17th February 2012 and Saturday 18th February 2012.These ticketed events are held in Sao Paulo’s Sambodromo which can accommodate up to 30,000 people.

Carnivals all over Brazil

Everywhere in the country, towns and cities celebrate the Brazil Carnival. Each has their own list of programs which will be released closer to the carnival dates in 2012. Florianopolis is the place for a laid back beach carnival. In Porto Seguro, enjoy a beauty pageant as one of the events. In Fortaleza, look out for the parades with stunning acrobatics and other aerial tricks. In Buzios, enjoy the most gay carnival in the country.