Carnival

Carnival is an annual celebration that embraces the entire country, even a business centre like São Paulo. The celebrations have far more impact on Brazil and its economy than the Christmas and New Year holidays. Most offices and businesses will close for the week of Carnival.

Carnival is a moveable feast that is tied to the Roman Catholic calendar. Carnival takes place from the Friday prior to Ash Wednesday and continues up to and including Ash Wednesday itself. In some cities and towns the celebrations take over the entire week and the following weekend.

Rio de Janeiro is the most famous and the largest of Brazil’s carnival celebrations, but there are equally impressive carnival activities in Salvador, Recife and Olinda. In Rio the focus is on samba and the parade of the samba schools organised by the League of Samba Schools on the Sunday and Monday evenings; in Salvador the focus is on the Trio Electricos and the Axé bands that parade through the city; while in Recife and Olinda the driving beat comes from frevo, maracatu and other traditional rhythms. In São Paulo the city also has a very respectable parade of the city’s samba schools.

Wherever you stay in Brazil during carnival, you won’t be far from music and a carnival party. Tickets for most major carnival activities can be reserved in advance through the better tour operators.

Carnival is just one of the many celebrations and festivities that take place throughout the year in Brazil. Highlights include the Festa do Divino held just before Pentecost Sunday (late May or early June); the June festivals (Festa Junina) linked to the feasts of saints John, Anthony, and Peter; Nossa Senhora de Aparecida, on October 12, which is also a national holiday; October also sees the festival of Círio de Nazaré in the city of Belém, at the mouth of the Amazon. The Amazon also has its own carnival, the Boi Bumba, which takes place over the last weekend in June in Parintins, a town 250 miles (800 km) downstream from Manaus.

Another major spectacular is seeing in the New Year on Rio’s Copacabana Beach. You will be one of around 3 million people on the beach, the vast majority dressed in white. Hotel beachfront rooms are, not surprisingly, at a premium at this time. While Rio and the rest of Brazil are honouring Iemanjá, the Queen of the Sea, Salvador celebrates the festival of Bom Jesus dos Navegantes.

Up coming dates for Carnival in Brazil (Friday-Wednesday) are:

  • 2026: 13-18-February
  • 2027: 5-10 February
  • 2028: 25 February-1 March
  • 2029: 9-14 February
  • 2030: 1-6 March

In 2026 the main parades of the Grupo Especial in Rio de Janeiro’s carnival are scheduled to take place on the nights of Sunday, 15 February; Monday, 16 February; and Tuesday, 17 February. After its introduction and success in 2025, the 12 schools will again parade over three nights. The order for the parades was decided on 12 April 2025 and will be:

Sunday, 15 February 2026

  • Acadêmicos de Niterói
  • Imperatriz Leopoldinense
  • Portela
  • Estação Primeira de Mangueira

Monday, 16 February 2026

  • Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel
  • Beija-Flor de Nilópolis
  • Unidos do Viradouro
  • Unidos da Tijuca

Tuesday, 17 February 2026

  • Paraíso do Tuiuti
  • Unidos de Vila Isabel
  • Acadêmicos do Grande Rio
  • Acadêmicos do Salgueiro

This amazing tilt shift video, The City of Samba by Keith Loutit and Jarbas Agnelli will give you a little taste of the Rio carnival parade, even in the rain, and the city itself.

For a full explanation of the Rio carnival parade CLICK HERE

Based on the results of the last five carnival parades (2020-2025 – no parade in 2021), the League of Samba Schools (LIESA) ranks the top samba schools in Rio de Janeiro as:

  1. Viradouro (77 points)
  2. Grande Rio (68)
  3. Beija-Flor (58)
  4. Imperatriz Leopoldinense (48)
  5. Vila Isabel (34)
  6. Salgueiro (30) 
  7. Mangueira (28)
  8. Portela (28)
  9. Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel (16)
  10. Paraíso do Tuiuti (6) 
  11. Unidos da Tijuca (5)
  12. Sao Clemente (1)

[Schools score 20 points for a win, 15 for 2nd, 12 for 3rd, 10 for 4th, 8 for 5th, 6 for 6th, 4 for 7th, 3 for 8th, 2 for 9th and 1 for 10th]

31 different samba schools have paraded in the Grupo Especial since 1985, and the first parade on the purpose built Sambódromo. Since 1985, the year LIEASA was also formed, the top ten most successful samba schools have been:

  1. Beija-Flor (526 points)
  2. Salgueiro (364)
  3. Imperatriz Leopoldinense (363) 
  4. Mangueira (339)
  5. Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel (281)
  6. Portela (254)
  7. Viradouro (231)
  8. Grande Rio (228) 
  9. Unidos da Tijuca (208)
  10. Vila Isabel (207)

 

The most recent parades of Grupo Especial – the Premier League of samba – took place on the nights of Sunday, 2 March,  Monday, 3 March and Tuesday, 4 March 2025, and the results (out of 270 points) were:

  1. Beija-Flor (270 points)
  2. Grande Rio (269.9)
  3. Imperatriz (269.8)
  4. Viradouro (269.4)
  5. Portela (269.4)
  6. Mangueira (269.4)
  7. Salgueiro (269.2)
  8. Vila Isabel (269.1)
  9. Unidos da Tijuca (268.8)
  10. Paraíso do Tuiuti (268.7)
  11. Mocidade (267.9)
  12. Unidos de Padre Miguel (266.8)

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