Rio Carnival is very different to Salvador in that it is much more about watching rather than being right there amongst it all. Although I’m sure the various street parties are just as crazy but we didn’t get to experience those.

However, the parade was well worth watching. The floats are amazing as are all the costumes. And you do get to dance/ jig around a bit whilst watching the parade.

We arrived at the grandstand around 830pm and just after 9pm the parade kicked off with an impressive firework display.

During the champions parade the 6 winners parade down the parade area- it takes at least one hour for each samba school to get from one end to the other. And each school has a variety of elements as part of its parade including some breathtaking floats, their own band, flag dancers and a variety of stunning costumes.

The samba schools must spend a fortune on all of this but I read that each school gets some money from the city funds to help take part in carnival.

We only stayed to watch the first three schools before heading home. It was amazing- just all the colours, the costumes and the atmosphere.

The photos can’t really capture the scale of the floats but they were huge and with so much detail including moving parts for the animals etc.

Definitely worth seeing.