A Fully Loaded Adventure in the Amazon Rainforest, the Marvelous Rio de Janeiro, Mystic Bahia and the Mighty Iguazu Falls

Glitz, Glamour, and Floats: a Behind-the-Scenes Experience of Rio’s Famous Carnival

  • Try on genuine Rio carnival costumes!

With over 2 million people in attendance, Rio’s carnival is nearly the biggest party on the planet. We’ll immerse ourselves in all things glitz, glamour, and floats, as we experience a behind-the-scenes look at the mega-colossal effort that goes behind Rio’s carnival preparations. We’ll visit the warehouses of Grande Rio, one of the main Samba Schools in the city. Once there, we’ll walk through this massive warehouse where costumes are sewn, floats are constructed and elaborate make-up is stored, and we’ll learn from a member of this Samba school about what it takes to prepare, organize and rehearse for a full-fledged carnivel parade. Also you’ll have the unique chance to try on a genuine carnival costume!

Each year, for 4 days, twelve Samba School put on outstanding and opulent parades, each with 3 to 4 thousand dancers, singers and percussionists; all clad in extremely elaborate, flamboyantly-feathery multi-colored costumes, and accompanied by “floats,”; which are huge elaborately-decorated platforms that seem to float along the performers during the parade. To achieve this feat of feverishly rhythmic music & dancing and superabundance of costumes and props, the Samba Schools invest each year hundreds of thousands of man hours in handcrafting, scripting and rehearsal!

Once we arrive at the facilities, we’ll learn from a member of this Samba schoool about the heart & soul that goes into the preparations for ths massive parade, and we’ll appreciate close-up and first-hand the elaborate and original props manufactured on-site for Rio’s biggest yearly event.

And now it’s time to play dress up! You can try on some of the actual carnival costumes used in the parade! With their typically flamboyant and feathery designs, the colorful attire will surely inspire the perfect Carnival performer pose for your pictures!

Next we’ll delve into the history of the carnival’s parades, and samba, the dominant musical style in Rio’s carnival - an intensely rhythmic dance of Afro-Brazilian origins.

Our Carnival experience will draw to a close as we sip a caipirinha, Brazil’s national cocktail, made of cachaça (sugarcane hard liquor), sugar, and lime. We’ll then head back to our hotel, filled with the celebratory vibes that make up Rio’s Carnival; and with a newfound appreciation of the humongous effort put in during the year for this magnificent, four-day extravaganza filled with color, music, and dancing!

Since you’ll be doing this tour with your own private vehicle, enjoy more convenient and faster transfers to and from your hotel, as there will be no other travelers to pick up or drop off at other hotels.

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Difficulty: none.

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Duration: about 1:30 hours at the Samba School’s site.

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Guide: group guide. The guide is a member of the Samba School who will speak in English, Portuguese and Spanish for the entire group. The maximum group size is 20 people.

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Vehicle: private vehicle.