| The world famous parades of the Rio are a mix | | | | to the day of the parades. Grupo RJ1 (ex Grupo |
| of samba dance, samba drums, songs, costumes, | | | | B) is in the sambodromo too, entrance is free, |
| spectacular floats and special effects.There are 72 | | | | but the schools have much less money to spend |
| samba schools in Rio and they all parade during | | | | on being spectacular. |
| the 4 days of carnival from Saturday 21st to | | | | The rest of the leagues also parade over carnival |
| Tuesday 24th Feb, 2009. They are all listed | | | | weekend. Their parades are much smaller, |
| below, with the dates they parade and where | | | | attendance is free, and they take place a long |
| you can find them. The samba schools are | | | | way out of town, at Estrada Intendente |
| organised into competitive leagues. The samba | | | | Magalhaes. The further down the list, the smaller |
| school parades will take place in 2 locations, the | | | | the schools. Grupo RJ4 has around 800 |
| Marquês de Sapucaí (AKA the | | | | participants in each samba school. |
| Avenida, the Sambódromo, the Passarela) | | | | As well as the formal samba school parades, |
| in the centre of town, and Estrada Intendente | | | | there are informal and free parades of blocos |
| Magalhães in the outer suburbs. | | | | (street carnival groups) all over town, especially in |
| The top group, and the most breathtaking, is | | | | the Rio Branco and in Copacabana and Ipenima. |
| Grupo Especial, with the biggest schools, the most | | | | Some blocos are several times larger than the |
| amazing costumes, the most expensive tickets, | | | | biggest samba schools and everyone can join in, |
| and around 5000 people in each samba school. | | | | rather than just watching. The blocos generally |
| Grupo A is also in the sambodromo, and has | | | | have samba drum bands and songs and bloco |
| some very elaborate parades, though tickets are | | | | t-shirts, but the costumes are informal - you'll see |
| cheaper. You can buy tickets for these parades in | | | | people in varying degrees of fancy dress rather |
| advance online, or from tourist agencies in Rio up | | | | than an organised specatacular parade. |