First of all it`s helpful to know that parade in Portuguese is Desfile. Now, this is a contest and it`s for bragging rights for the whole year as judges rate the performances of Samba schools which spend up to 8 months in REHEARSALS preparing for the big parade. There is a special group of Samba schools composed of 14 schools.

Then there`s an A group, a B group, and also Mirins, groups composed of younger samba school members. Each year the winners from group A and group B are promoted to the special group and the two schools receiving the worst scores in the special group are demoted.

The parades in the Sambadromo begin on Friday with the Mirins parade and the B group, followed by the A group on Saturday, and 7 schools of the special group on Sunday followed by the last 7 schools of the special group on Monday. There are more Mirins parades on Tuesday and then the judging of the parades is on Wednesday afternoon to determine the winners who will parade again on Saturday in the champions parade.

The gates of the Sambodromo open at 6 in the evening. The parades begin around 7 and last through the night past dawn till about 7 in the morning. The members of the schools
meet on Avenida Presidente Vargas before entering the parade route and that`s the best place and time for you to take pictures since people are usually already trashed, besides, during the parade and soon after the parade there is so much chaos and such big crowds that it`ll be more difficult.

Each school, composed of up to 6000 costumed people, has between 65 and 80 minutes to get the whole school through the 700-meter long parade route, which has a capacity for 60,000 onlookers. The school includes 5 to 9 allegorical floats which tell the story of that year`s theme, ranging from political or historical themes to light hearted ones. A school's drum section can have as many as 400 percussionists. You'll know which school it is by paying attention to the first float, abre alas, with the their theme and the school's name on it.

The school is judged on energy, enthusiasm, and organization such as, not having any gaps between the floats throughout the parade route. The quality of the floats and costumes, the theme, the samba song, and how it all comes together is also judged. Various details involving the performances of special groups of the school are very important too, such as the Front Commission, right after the first float, responsible for presenting the school usually with a clever choreographed routine. Bahianas are twirling older ladies in the school wearing large African style dresses. The Flag Bearer and Mestre Sala, the two principle representatives of the school, and the Old Guard, the oldest members of the school are also main attractions to pay attention to.

Be prepared for a lot of eye candy! It`ll probably be the most colorful experience you`ve ever had and I`m quite sure you`ve never seen so many feathers before. The most beautiful and famous women in Rio are big attractions at the parade, each one trying to out do the others, as well as up and coming stars of the future trying to appear on TV and get noticed. There are also professional Sambistas, called Passistas, that really put on a show dancing their way through the parade. Be there to cheer them on or buy a costume and PARTICIPATE!