Rio Carnival Costumes

Rio Carnival Costumes
2010 Samba Parade

How to choose your costume

- All our packages include roundtrip transfers from Copacabana, Ipanema or Leblon.

- Select the costume that you want - available at end of November. It's your ticket to march with the school.

- When purchasing your Carnival costume, we will need to get some measurements from you such as SHOE SIZE and CLOTHING SIZE S/M/L/XL.

- Download both our Credit Card Authorization form and our Measurement form, fill them out and fax them to us. You will receive a confirmation by email once we process your order. (not available yet)

- You will be contacted by our Ticket Center staff, if we have any questions and to give you further instructions.

- On parade night you will be transported to the Sambodrome warming up area (concentracao) and, in the company of our guide and fellow members of "Escola de Samba", you will participate in the unforgettable parade that is Carnival in Rio. By the way, the parade itself lasts approximately 50 minutes. Each school has 90 minutes to cross the runaway.

Read and learn more about Rio Samba Parade costumes and learn your samba song.

We can send you an email when costumes become available for purchase.

How to get there

If you have acquired the costume to parade on your own, this is our suggestion for you: The best and easiest way is by taxi or by subway. (It is fun to arrive by metro. You will see lots of fellow paraders in costumes). Both are safe and leave you very close to the Sambodromo when all other traffic comes to a still-stand around the Sambodromo and in almost the whole city. Avoid taking busses there.

You have to arrive about two hours before the parading time of your school, for the preparation and to meet your wing's president and to see where the wing will be within the school. It is really interesting and worthwhile to move around and see the huge, richly decorated floats from so close, mix with the artists and models who will be on the floats, meet the older people from your school or the drummers who will be getting ready for their triumphal times. All samba schools meet on Rua Presidente Vargas, which is right next to the Sambodromo at the beginning of the samba run-way, near Sector 1. You only have to know the side of your school (whether it is the side of the even or odd-numbered sectors)

You only have to find your wing. It will be very easy, around 100 other people wearing the same costume like you. Look out for and report to your president.

You can take almost any place within the wing and you will soon form single lines. You should try at this time to stay next to your friends.

Try to arrive already wearing your costume. No problem to have it on, on the streets or in the subway or taking a taxi, everyone does it. There are no changing rooms or any lockers there.

After the school's paraders arrive, the school will prepare itself and complete the final touches for the big moment of entering the Avenue.

You can arrive much earlier if you like; it is possible and also great fun just to wonder, look and marvel around there.

Your president will make sure that you wear your costume right and you will quickly learn the little steps and ways how the paraders march through the Avenue.

You can have other people with you, who can take pictures and have fun with you and who could later take your unnecessary stuff. They only have to leave at a later stage, when you will pass the gates, after which moment no more way in or out. Just don’t arrive late and miss the closing of the gates for your school.

We can send you an email when costumes become available for purchase.

Float costumes

Should you decide to parade on top of a flor, we will pick 6 different costumes for you to choose from. That's for the A-League - the access group - parading on Saturday February 13th, 2010. Because of the configuration of the floats, availability is limited, normally from 2 to 20 per float. We will confirm reservation for costumes in a first-come-first-serve-bases after November 2009.

Your role - Advice how to win points for your school

To parade the whole length of the samba run-way in the Sambodromo demands stamina, drive and the will to win, yes, WIN!

Each of the some four thousand paraders in every school has a fundamental role. Each and every one must put his utmost energy into his performance for the School. Your performance will also be essential for your school’s scores and they will count on you.

Sing the words of your samba song. The chorus of all parading members, together with a great samba and powerful drums are what make the crowd in the stands go wild and win points for the School. The judges will also look out for how well the school’s members know the samba song and how well they sing it.

All Rio people will already know all the samba songs of the year by then, as you can’t escape them being plaid in all possible places for the last 3 months before Carnival. You should be (almost) as good as they are!

Well, and do you need to know how to samba? Samba is great but not everybody can samba and it is absolutely not necessary. (It is even said better not to, since it only interrupts and holds up the progression of the school.)

Another factor on which a school is judged is the harmony of the parading members, the flow of the school. What is important is that you make your way along the Avenue with your wing, showing strength, happiness and vitality. You will soon learn the special way people “jump along” the samba run-way. Just try to imitate that and look jolly and animated.

Each school has about 25-30 wings and each wing contains about 100 people. Every wing has a costume which tells one part of the story theme, like an individual cell in a large organism.

Each wing has a president or coordinator. He and his team will make sure that everything is in order with your costume before the parade, checking that everybody has all his items of clothing and will most importantly motivate and animate the group.

During the parade, just celebrate glory and life. Use your imagination! Parading is as good as dreaming. Have the party of your life! Sing! Dance! Shake and move your body, with all enthusiasm, full of joy and happiness.
All the stands in the Sambodromo will be crammed with people from all over the world, just to watch you move by. You will be right there - on the biggest stage in the world!

Each school has between 65 and 75 minutes to parade and each wing passes through the Sambodromo in about 30-40 minutes. You will be exhausted.

When you come to the end of the parade, the floats go to the one side of the Apotheoses Arch (next to Sector 6) and the paraders to the other (next to Sector 13). Just follow the flow of people.

If your school comes in the top six you will be able to parade once more in the Champion's Parade on Saturday, February 20th. In this case contact your president for the new meeting details.

Where and when to meet

We suggest arriving at the meeting point at the following time. However please follow your president's instructions.

All paraders meet in Av. Presidente Vargas. Please ask your wing's president whether you have to go to the meeting point on the side of the even (Sector 2) or odd-numbered sectors (next to Sector 1).

We make all possible efforts to have all information correct and up-to-date on our site. However there might be some divergences in the case of some schools or some mistakes. Please check all details with whom you purchase your costume from. We do not act as intermediaries and cannot take any responsibility for your costume purchase.