All activities / Witness / Attend / Rio de Janeiro
Witness / Attend in Rio de JaneiroBR
Brazil's marvelous city: beaches and granite domes, samba schools and the largest carnival on earth, with free flight, climbing, and jiu-jitsu inside the city limits.
Scheduled and sanctioned by LIESA (Liga Independente das Escolas de Samba do Rio de Janeiro).
Dates & details verified against: Official event site ↗
Why here
Carnival exists in a hundred cities; the Sambadrome parade exists in one. Rio's samba schools spend a full year and serious money building a single 70-minute procession of floats, drum corps, and thousands of costumed dancers, then compete across two judged nights in the Marques de Sapucai stadium that Oscar Niemeyer designed for exactly this. It is the largest carnival on earth and the rare world spectacle you can join rather than watch: any school will sell you a fantasia, its costume, and a place in one of its wings, and the same week fills the streets with hundreds of free blocos.
Best months
Dates move with the lunar calendar, landing in February or early March. The 2027 edition runs February 5-13, with the Special Group parade nights on February 7-8 and the Champions' Parade on February 13. Expect heat, rain bursts, and a city running on three hours of sleep.
Getting there & around
Fly into Galeao (GIG); the Sambadrome is reached by metro at Praca Onze and Central stations. Grandstand tickets through LIESA's official channels sell out months ahead, so book four to six months out. Hotels enforce minimum stays during Carnival week.
Skill levels: beginner
Schools & guides (1)
LIESA
OrganizerThe independent league of Rio's samba schools, founded in 1984, which stages the Special Group parades and runs official Sambadrome ticketing.