Why go
Carnival makes more sense in Rio when you distinguish the Sambódromo from a bloco. The parade avenue gives samba schools a formal stage for elaborate processions, while blocos grew from neighborhood pageant groups and invite public participation. Both reveal how samba, costume and local streets shape the city’s best-known festival.
The full story
Brazilian Carnival takes place in the days before Ash Wednesday and has different musical and social forms across the country. In Rio, the samba-school parade became the festival's most formal expression: organized schools present music, dance, costumes and themed processions in the Sambódromo. The city's street culture has another lineage. In the late nineteenth century, cordões were groups that paraded through avenues playing instruments and dancing; these developed into the blocos associated with particular neighborhoods. That distinction is useful for visitors. A Sambódromo parade is a staged, large-scale spectacle, while a bloco is a street gathering whose character depends on its local group and music. Rio's Carnival also reflects African-Brazilian influences that shaped samba and the city's cultural life. Choosing between the two formats changes the scale of the experience, the setting and the relationship between spectators and performers.