From Carnival Saturday to Tuesday, open-air dances take place throughout the city. The emphasis is on joy and spontaneity. The biggest and most organized one is on Cinelândia Square.
Apart from organized street dances, people also simply gather outside little corner bars, booze away and have fun in the street. The place which attracts the biggest crowd is outside the Sambodromo, on Samba Parade days.
Popular street dance at Cinelândia
Friday-Tuesday 17:00-03:00 am
The open-air party lasts for five days to the sounds of acclaimed orchestras and singers. These are symbols of carnival music, reviving the atmosphere of the grand carnival balls of the past.
There is a stage on the square with idols and the most well-known singers of the times of early radio (from the 40-60s) – good, old Brazilian-Rio music, mainly samba. The crowd (mainly older and working-class people) join in and dance away to the tunes.
Venue: Praça Floriano, Cinelândia, Centro (Downtown)
On Samba Parade nights, it does not only get packed inside the Sambodromo but, before, during and after the Parade, thousands of people gather on the streets that did not get in. They are also joined by those who parade in costume and just want to party more, making the crowd even more colorful with their fancy-dresses. It turns the whole downtown area into a huge and lively open-air bar.
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