Rua Rivadávia Correa

Samba City in Rio de Janeiro Rua Rivadávia Correa 60, Gamboa

the Escola do Samba Beija Flor

The float of the Escola do Samba Beija Flor, which resulted twice champion of the Rio de Janeiro Carnival, on Wednesday, 25 February 2004, in Brazil. Beija Flor built an allegorical float with images of the Amazonian natives, illustrating the Brazilian Amazonas which was their "escola" theme.

Brazilian singer Xuxa

Brazilian singer Xuxa performs with the Brazilian samba school Capricious of Pilares during the Carnival celebrations in Rio of Janeiro's Samba Dance Centre Sambadrome, Sunday 22 February 2004

The Queen of Drums 2004

The Queen of Drums of Sao Clemente samba school performs 24 February during the first night of the Rio de Janeiro samba school parade at the Sambo drome. Rio's samba school parade is part of the four-day annual Rio carnival attracting thousands of resients and tourists

23 February 2004 the Porto da Pedra School

A Brazilian woman takes part in the Porto da Pedra School of Samba's parade at the Sambodromo in Rio de Janeiro, Monday 23 February 2004. The school has selected several topics for this year's theme.

23Feb2004 Imperio Serrano

A Brazilian dancer from the Samba School Imperio Serrano dances in the carnival parade at Rio de Janeiro's Sambrodome on Monday, 23 February 2004. City: Rio de Janeiro Country: Brazil Negative Number: SYN447451 Photographer: EPA EUROPEAN PRESS AGENCY Picture date: 24/02/2004

24 February 2004

A Brazilian "garota" (samba dancer) dances to the rhythms of the Mocidade Independente Samba "Escola", on Tuesday, 24 February 2004, during the closing of the Rio de Janeiro Carnival. Mocidade Independente closed the carnival with dancers and floats on traffic education as their theme.

Carnaval Dates until 2040

Carnaval Dates until 2040Calculating CarnavalOne of the most frequent questions we get here at our website is "what is the date of Carnaval this year?". Well, believe it or not, it is not an easy question to answer. You have to be part astrologer, part mathematician, and part priest! Here is how you calculate the carnaval date:50-47 days before the first Sunday after the first full moon after Vernal Equinox, or in layman's terms, Ash Wednesday is calculated as 46 days before Easter Sunday, and carnaval falls on the 4 days before Ash Wednesday. Complicated, no?
2003 - March 1-4

2004 - February 21-24

2005 - February 5-8

2006 - February 25-28

2007 - February 17-20

2008 - February 2-5

2009 - February 21-24

2010 - February 13-16

2011 - March 5-8

2012 - February 18-21

2013 - February 9-12

2014 - March 1-4

2015 - February 14-17

2016 - February 6-9

2017 - February 25-28

2018 - February 10-13

2019 - March 2-5

2020 - February 22-25

2021 - February 13-16

2022 - February 26 - March 1

2023 - February 18-21

2024 - February 10-13

2025 - March 1-4

2026 - February 14-17

2027 - February 6-9

2028 - February 26-29

2029 - February 10-13

2030 - March 2-5

2031 - February 22-25

2032 - February 7-10

2033 - February 26 - March 1

2034 - February 18-21

2035 - February 3-6

2036 - February 23-26

2037 - February 14-17

2038 - March 6-9

2039 - February 19-22

2040 - February 11-14

Beauty Queen Angela

Brazil's Carnival has always been a raucous affair but beauty queen Angela Bismarchi took it a step further when her only item of clothing, a small patch of glitter, fell off mid-parade.

Bismarchi was the talk of the town on the second and final night of Rio de Janeiro's main Carnival parades, where full nudity is officially banned even though many outfits leave precious little to the imagination.

The young woman, queen of the Porto da Pedra samba school, was briefly left entirely naked but for a few feathers and some body paint when her "tapasexo", a tiny piece of material topped with glitter, fell away.

But Bismarchi quickly conjured up a thong and carried on dancing, later laughing off the incident with an old Brazilian saying: "A well prepared woman is worth two."

Last night's parades featured thousands of spectacularly dressed dancers shaking and singing their way along the city's Sambadrome to a ferocious rhythm of drums.

"It's a thrill. I enjoy the people, I enjoy the costumes," said French movie star Vincent Cassel, on his third Brazilian Carnival, in one of the Sambadrome's VIP boxes. "The party here is really beautiful."

Thirteen samba schools from poor neighbourhoods parade over two nights to compete for the title of Carnival champion, and are judged on their floats, music and dancing.
The floats last night included huge animals and songs honouring African culture, and others devoted to photography and sports.

Porto da Pedra's theme was the struggle of South Africa's blacks against apartheid. It included a huge statue of anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela, sections of people dressed as tigers and a float representing police repression.

In a parade paying tribute to the art of photography, the Unidos da Tijuca samba school brought images of the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty and Egypt's Pyramids.

Floats with giant statues of African warrior queens and Egyptian pharaohs, presented by the Salgueiro samba school, left clouds of glitter in the air as they passed.

This year's celebrations were held amid a surge in violence in Rio's slums with dozens killed in police gunfights with drug traffickers and turf battles between rival gangs.

The dead included a leader of the Salgueiro samba troupe, gunned down with his wife in their car as they left the school's training ground last week.

A government crackdown intensified in the days leading up to Carnival with police occupying some of the city's slums, knows as favelas.

Banners along the Sambadrome had calls for peace emblazoned on them. Despite the violence, officials say about 700,000 tourists descended on the city for Carnival.
FROM : Reuters

Mel Britto

Brazilian dancer Mel Britto performs as Drum Queen of the Caprichosos samba school during Rio de Janeiro’s Carnival parade in the Sambadrome February 26, 2006. The Carnival in the beachside city of Rio de Janeiro is famed as one of the world’s best parties.