The Carnival in Rio de Janeiro is held before Lent every year.
The Carnival is considered the biggest in the world with two million people per day on the streets.
First records of the festivities dates back to 1723.
Basically there are two parts of the Carnival. The one most on TV are the competition between the Samba Schools. Each school choose a theme and present it via a 80 minutes parade. The parades are performed in the Sambodromo.
For the visitors the street carnival is atleast as entertaining. Program which usually includes daily activities in city center and in the south zone.
Daily activities from 18th to 21nd of february 2012:
From 20:00 Concerts at Samba Land
From 20:00 Concerts in Lapa
From 23:00 Rio Scala Ball
For the Complete schedule visit - Carnival schedule 2012.
