Counting Down to Carnaval

Posted on February 19, 2017 by Critical Divide

Mangueira, champions in 2016

The clock is ticking down to Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro, the city’s first really big celebration since the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic games.

Rio de Janeiro is the most famous and the largest of Brazil’s carnival celebrations. 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.

The main parades of the Grupo Especial will next take place on the nights of Sunday, 26 February and Monday, 27 February 2017. The schools parading will be:

Sunday, 26 February 2017

Paraíso do Tuiuti
Grande Rio
Imperatriz Leopoldinense
Vila Isabel
Salgueiro
Beija-Flor

Monday, 27 February 2017

União da Ilha
São Clemente
Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel
Unidos da Tijuca
Portela
Mangueira

Six schools will parade on Sunday night and six on Monday and they will start at 22.00, 23.05, 00.10, 01.15, 02.20 and 03.25.

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

2018: 9-14 February
2019: 1-6 March
2020: 21-26 February
2021: 12-17-February
2022: 25 February-2 March
2023: 17-22 February
2024: 9-14 February
2025: 28 February-5 March

Mangueira: Champion of Rio’s carnaval 2016

Posted on February 14, 2016 by Critical Divide

Last was again not least at Rio’s carnaval, and the last of the top 12 Rio samba schools to parade in 2016, the iconic Mangueira of “Verde Rosa” (Green and Pink), a school that was first champion in 1932 and which was last champion in 2002, is champion again with a parade that honoured the great Brazilian singer Maria Bethânia.

Mangueira scored 269.8 points out of a possible 270, beating Unidos da Tijuca and Portela in to second and third with 269.7 point, Salgueiro, that had lead for most of the countt, came fourth with 269.5, and the champion in 2015, Beija Flor, was fifth with 269.3. Estacio de Sa was relegated to the Grupo de Acesso while Paraíso do Tuiuti was promoted and reutrns to the main parade in 2017 for the first time since 2001.

The main parades of the Grupo Especial will next take place on the nights of Sunday, 26 February and Monday, 27 February 2017. The schools parading will be:

Beija-Flor
Grande Rio
Imperatriz Leopoldinense
Mangueira
Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel
Paraíso do Tuiuti
Portela
Salgueiro
São Clemente
União da Ilha
Unidos da Tijuca
Vila Isabel

Mangueira, champions in 2016

Ginga Tropical – New show for Rio

Posted on May 21, 2015 by Critical Divide

Rio has a new Brazilian Folklore Show for visitors and tourists to enjoy. Called Ginga Tropical, the 90 minute show takes its audience on a musical and folkloric tour of Brazil.

The show takes place in traditional and historic Gafieira Estudantina, a dance hall situated in the middle of Praça Tiradentes in downtown Rio. The show starts at 21.30 and runs Thursday to Sunday.

Carnival 2015 in Focus

Posted on February 21, 2015 by Critical Divide

Beija-Flor wins carnival 2015

Posted on February 18, 2015 by Critical Divide

Beija-Flor (the humming bird) is the champion samba school of Rio’s 2015 carnival with a samba that was based on the historic links between Equatorial Guinea and Brazil. It was one of three schools to choose Brazil’s relationship with Africa as its theme. Viradouro, which also chose Africa, came last and was relegated.

It is Beija-Flor’s 13^th carnival title, the first since 2011.

Salgueiro was runner up with a theme that looked at the tastes and customs of the neighbouring state of Minas Gerais, while in third came Grande Rio who had as its theme cards.

Grande Rio tied on points with Portela, which looked at 450 years of Rio surreal, and last year’s champion, Unidos da Tijuca, that had a theme based around Switzerland and one of the great characters of carnival, Clovis Bornay.

In a closely fought contest the full results were:

Beija-Flor (269.9 points out of 270)
Salgueiro (269.5)
Grande Rio (269.0)
Portela (269.0)
Unidos da Tijuca (269.0)
Imperatriz Leopoldinense (268.9)
Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel (268.5)
São Clemente (268.4)
União da Ilha do Governador (267.2)
Mangueira (267.1)
Unidos de Vila Isabel (266.2)
Viradouro (263.7)

Rio’s carnival parade order for 2015

Posted on September 2, 2014 by Critical Divide

On Monday, 9 June, on the eve of the World Cup, he League of Samba Schools (LIESA) made the draw to decide the date and order that the top samba schools in Rio de Janeiro will parade in 2015.

Sunday, 15 February 2015

Viradouro
Mangueira
Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel
Unidos de Vila Isabel
Salgueiro
Grande Rio

Monday, 16 February 2015

São Clemente
Portela
Beija-Flor
União da Ilha do Governador
Imperatriz Leopoldinense
Unidos da Tijuca

The winner in 2014, Unidos da Tijuca, has again chosen to go out last on the final night.

Rio the Guide

The Insider's Guide to Rio de Janeiro

Tag Archives: carnival