Endless Carnival of Rio

Posted by Jennifer on Mar 13, 2012 in Rio de Janeiro | 0 comments

During the four days of duration of the 2012 Edition of Carnival in Rio, both tourists and Cariocas, as the local population is known, took control of the streets of Rio de Janeiro to enjoy this annual festival. For many it was their first time in this huge carnival; others were repeating the experience of a previous year and yet many others are regular attendees of this party. Everyone enjoyed Carnival in Rio as never before, and they are currently already looking forward to the 2013 Edition.

Officially, the Carnival of Rio de Janeiro ended on Tuesday, February 21st. Attendees, however, did not want the party ended and everyone enjoyed his or her own way, participating in parties and festivities making an Endless Carnival of Rio. It is estimated that a total of five million people enjoyed the carnival parades.

During the days of this festival, a total of 424 groups paraded in different parts of the city. With this figure in mind, the Carnival of the streets of Rio de Janeiro is without a doubt, the largest in all of Brazil.

The traditional parade of Cordão do Bola Preta was the one who broke all records: more than two million people gathered on Saturday, 18 February to follow this powerful electric trio along the Avenida Rio Branco. In the financial center of the city, also, Monobloco dragged with it some 500,000 attendees who followed them to the point of losing their breath on the last day of Carnival. Even ahead of the start of Rio’s Carnival, on Sunday 12 February the Bloco da Preta paraded and was followed by some 250,000 people.

On the coast, the scene was repeated. The Ipanema Beach was also the scene of the carnival blocos which dragged crowds at this party that never ends. The Carnival bloco Simpatia É Quase Amor led a movement of about 150,000 people along Avenida Vieira Souto during Sunday, February 19.

On Monday, 20 February a total of 400,000 people gathered once again on this avenue to enjoy a mix of rhythms by AfroReggae. That was the most surprising parade, given that the original expectation was to bring together many people indeed, but in a number nearer to half of those who finally attended.

On Sunday, at Praça XV, 40,000 people marched in the very traditional Cordão do Boitatá. Also that day, the gardens of Aterro do Flamengo, designed by landscape architect Burle Marx, seemed to disappear when they were crossed by the Bangalafumenga group followed by a crowd of some 60.000 attendees who enjoyed the rhythms of Carnival.

On February 21 the biggest party of the Beatles that has taken place in the world was held in Rio de Janeiro. With 120 drummers, the group Sargento Pimenta led another 60,000 people over the Aterro do Flamengo gardens, dancing to the sound of rhythms that were a mixture of the biggest hits of the famous band from Liverpool with the drumming of samba, afoxé and other rhythms.

These impressive figures of attendance to the Rio de Janeiro’s Carnival would not have been possible without the work of several institutions involved, such as the Municipal Guard, Comlurb, CET-Rio, the Ministry of Public Order, the Firefighters, the Military Police and the coordination of lthe ocal tourist office: Riotur. For the 2012 edition of Carnival in Rio, a total of 8,400 portable chemical toilets and 50 containers were installed to prevent hygiene problems. Substantial monitoring was conducted, which resulted in 1,014 arrests of people were found urinating in public. 623 emergency services were provided from January 28 until Tuesday 21 February, the last day of carnival. Garbage collection totaled one thousand tons, which is 300 tons less than in the 2011 edition.

Planning for the 2013 edition of the Carnival of Rio has already started, as it is a party that never ends. Start planning your trip to Rio de Janeiro for the Carnival 2013 right now. Do not miss out on this opportunity to attend a great party, probably one of the greatest parties in the whole world!