Inside the Samba Parade in Rio de Janeiro

Carnival in Rio de Janeiro is behind the corner and we can’t avoid recalling the amazing week we had the last time we were there. In fact, due to a coincidence and to a hostel overbooking, we met Silvia and Silvana, two brilliant ladies who gave us the chance to take a look inside the Samba Parade in Rio de Janeiro.

Passionate about travelling, they live between Italy and Ireland, and they came to Brazil with the intention to take part in the performance inside the Sambodromo, the biggest stage on earth, during Carnival.

Unfortunately, we happened to arrive in Rio de Janeiro on the same day, but we had an overbooking issue at the hostel. As a matter of facts, the staff explained that because the date of birth we used for our room reservation was very similar to the one they used, so was our nationality and even the first name of the person who made the reservations, the hostel completely confused us with them.

Hold on, that’s not the worst part of the story! Since bad news never come alone, due to the very peak season, there were no more rooms available at all, apparently in the whole area of Ipanema.

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Our “overbooking experience” in Rio during Carnival

As soon as they arrived at the reception, the hotel supervisor explained there were no rooms available for them, because they accidentally booked the same room to us and to them, thinking we were the same guests, because of all the above mentioned coincidences. But we arrived earlier, and the guesthouse was completely full.

And now what?

These two ladies enthusiastically came from Europe to experience the magic of Carnival once in their lives. The situation was becoming very worrying, since Rio gets literally crazy during Carnival and even if we arrived one week before the official Samba Parade, all hotels in Ipanema were already full and everyone was already partying in the streets: adults, children and even animals.

A chopp in Rio will fix it all!

While passing in front of the reception to leave for a walk, the receptionist pointed at us, and Silvana asked us “So, are you the guys who took our room?”. After a brief explanation of what happened, we immediately understood the situation was very critical: Ipanema was packed for Carnival and there were no available rooms in the area. Under those circumstances, we would have shared our room with them, if we had the chance to. Unfortunately, it was not even big enough for our backpacks. Since we had no fast solution in our pocket, we thought that we should have killed the time, while the hostel staff were trying to find alternative accommodation for them. “What about a chopp at Garota de Ipanema?” we said. We hoped that a beer would help to smooth the atmosphere, while the hostel was working on the issue.

That room overbooking actually gave us the chance to get to know two of the most brilliant ladies we’ve ever met while travelling, and we are still in touch with them.

But…how did things go? In sum, the hostel manager made his appearance, and he looked very busy on the phone, trying to re-protect Silvia and Silvana, by calling every place in Ipanema. Since it looked like a very long mission, we agreed to kill the waiting time all together, sipping a beer (chopp) at the bar Garota de Ipanema, the former bar Veloso. Here in 1962, two friends (Vinicious de Moraes and Antonio Carlos Jobim) composed the most famous bossa nova song, Garota de Ipanema, inspired by Helo, a beautiful young neighbour and a client of the bar.

Between a chopp of Brama and another one, the night fell, while Silvia and Silvana enthusiastically explained how they were going to take part in the Samba Parade, with a real samba school.

Inside the Sambodromo in Rio with a samba school

First of all, they told us how the whole thing works: there are about four thousand paraders and each samba school chooses a specific theme, which is represented by the costumes of its paraders, divided in about 30 wings, each one containing about 100 people and each one leaded by coordinator, who is in charge of animating the team and supervising the costumes. They were supposed to meet their coordinator, a taxi driver called Joao, the next day, inside a favela (slum) called “Rocinha”.

Carnival in Rio is the result of several months of preparation, and it’s very important to the Brazilians, probably because it sums up the way they are, as well as the way they think: euphoric, chaotic, colourful and fun.

Due to the fact that the most involved groups in the Rio Carnival are the favelas (slums), Silvia and Silvana ended up spending most of their preparation week inside the favela of their school.

While they could learn how to sing and dance the established samba song, without a doubt they could learn about the way people live inside a slum. Water, electricity, bricks and a sewage system are a luxury, but no matter how humble the residents are, they will be the essence of the Carnival. As a matter of facts, samba, together with football, is their biggest passion and this is their very good chance of the year to go out and have as much fun as possible, making the best out of it.

The role of the samba school in Rio de Janeiro

During the whole year, samba schools entertain the favelas’ communities working hard to succeed in the parade: they choose a theme, they write lyrics, they choose the costumes and establish choreographic ballets, which will be performed during several weeks, probably months, before Carnival, with one very specific aim: winning!

Samba schools are social clubs representing specific neighborhoods with strong community basis and often affirming the Afro-Brazilian cultural heritage.

First of all, the samba song of each school is chosen after an internal competition, where groups create their sambas, based on the previously agreed theme.

Such competition takes place over several weekends and the winning song is the one adopted by the school to be represented at the Sambodromo. Most of all, the celebration is taken very seriously by the communities, and all participants are asked to learn the song of the school, to arrive on time and not to damage or lose any part of the costumes. Actually, they’re not even allowed to drink or take pictures during the parade.

Where may you get a samba costume for the Parade?

Sivia and Silvana purchased their costumes on the internet several months before the event and, once in Rio, they had about a week to learn the song of their school and the dance of their wing, together with the residents of the favela, although for them the preparation started many months before. Having a specific role in their wing, according to their costume, made them bind a special relationship with the rest of the group, because they were all competing together in support of the same school, with the aim of being the champions. Here are Silvia and Silvana during the samba parade, inside the Sambodromo.

They had the experience of a lifetime! Whether you decide to march inside the Samba Parade like Silvia and Silvana or to be just a spectator, Rio is the place to be during Carnival, at least once in life. What do you think about Carnival? Would you take part in the samba parade in Rio de Janeiro like Silvia and Silvana?