Rio Carnival – The Experience of a Lifetime

I am hot, sweaty and with aching feet but with a huge smile on my face from ear to ear that won’t go away. I’ve just taken part in the Sambadrome parade at Rio Carnival which can only be described as the best experience of my life.

I have been lucky enough to attend Rio Carnival for the last three years and absolutely adore the city which in my opinion is the most beautiful in the world. Aside from carnival, the city has so much to offer the visitor and its natural landscapes have recently been declared a World Heritage area by UNESCO. The views from the top of Corcovado Mountain or Sugar Loaf Mountain are simply sublime with the rolling hills mixing with forests, the city and beaches for as far as the eye can see. The beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema are world renowned, on both of which you could spend a day just strolling along and people watching. Beach volleyball in Rio isn’t just an Olympic sport; it’s a way of life.

During Carnival the city changes dramatically with the arrival of an estimated extra 2 million visitors and the whole of Rio stops work to party with family and friends.

There are approximately 450 blocos (street parties) which take place over a five day period in various parts of the city. These are often localized community events, but everyone is welcome. Neighborhoods come alive and residents dress up in all manner of weird, wonderful and irreverent costumes with many men dressing up as women. Alcohol is abundant, the music is loud and the dancing is infectious.

While Carnival is a celebration, it is also a competition. Rio’s top 12 samba schools battle it out on the Sunday and Monday night in the Sambadrome, a purpose built parade area which holds up to 80,000 spectators. The Sambadrome is a 700 meter long runway with stands either side along which the Samba schools parade in vast numbers. Each samba school has between 65 and 82 minutes to get roughly 5,000 dancers, drummers and enormous floats from the start to the finish line in a style, rhythm and harmony which will score the most points with the judges.

Watching the Sambadrome parades is an incredible sight as the noise and color is overwhelming. The parades begin at 9pm and finish anytime between 5am and 6am with most people doing their best to stay until the end. As each parade goes past the crowds get to their feet, singing, dancing and cheering on their favorite samba school.

Although watching the parades is a fabulous experience, dressing up and taking part in the parade is something else. That’s exactly what I had the chance to do in February as an honorary member for the night of the União da Ilha Samba School and it is a night I’ll never forget.

Each year every samba school chooses a different theme for the parade and for União da Ilha it was Darwinism. This led to me being in a section of the parade with about 80 others, all dressed as peacocks, parading behind a 20 foot high tortoise! The costumes were delivered to my hotel and a small group of us, who were also in the parade, headed for the Sambadrome.

We traveled to central station via the metro which is an experience in itself but squeezing into crammed carriages in a large costume is a lot of fun when everyone is in a party mood. On arrival at the Sambadrome we were kept in a holding area and shown what to do which involved some simple samba moves and the importance of keeping in line with the dancers to your side and in front.

As we entered the arena my overriding memory was of a wall of light and a cacophony of sound from 80,000 people which increased the further along we went. All the crowds were singing, chanting and taking photos of us while the sweat was pouring off me as I focussed on my footwork.

As I crossed the finished line I had been dancing non-stop for 40 minutes and didn’t want to stop. Everyone was cheering and hugging each other in jubilation and the constant buzz continued as we headed to find a bar still wearing the costume which I got to keep.

I have traveled all over the world but this, without doubt, was the best experience of my life.

Original Article – Thanks to Geoff Moore :: Travel photographer, writer and blogger Geoff Moore has been a member of the British Guild of Travel Writers for 10 years and has traveled the world for over 30 years.

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