By Fiona Hurrell, Senior Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Another incredible Carnival at the Sambódromo in Rio drew to a close last Saturday (February 16th) with the samba schools Champions’ Parade. Crowds turned out in full force to see new champion G.R.E.S. Unidos de Vila Isabel make their victory parade, as the finale [...]
Editorial RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Carnival may be over but it came so early this year there is still a bit of “summer” to go. Summer in Brazil, being the Southern Hemisphere, is generally December to February – and we just had the Daylight Savings Time change also – but the forecast remains 35° [...]
By Chesney Hearst, Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Although Carnival may have officially ended last Tuesday, 48 blocos continued to celebrate in the streets of Rio de Janeiro this weekend. Today (Sunday, February 17th) one of the most diverse blocos and popular year-round performance groups, Monobloco, drew an estimated 500,000 as they paraded [...]
By Ben Tavener, Senior Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – After weeks of celebrations and the samba school finale in Sambódromo, the big post-Carnival clean-up is underway in Rio. City officials say some 770 tons of garbage have been removed so far: 400 tons from the aftermath of bloco parties held across Rio and [...]
By Chesney Hearst, Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Late on the afternoon of Wednesday, February 13th, G.R.E.S. Unidos de Vila Isabel was declared the Champion of the 2013 Rio de Janeiro Carnival competition, marking the third championship victory for the samba school and the close of this year’s Carnival. Vila Isabel amazed the [...]
By Fiona Hurrell, Senior Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The samba schools have now completed their parades at the Sambódromo and as the competition results are tallied, many in the city start to practice Lent. Yet in Rio the atmosphere is still electric with another wave of blocos still to be enjoyed, and [...]
Opinion, by Alfonso Stefanini RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Ash Wednesday has arrived but Carnival is not over. “Blocos”, or street parades, will continue until the end of next weekend. The “desfile das campeãs”, the official samba school winner’s parade, and the decompression post-parties are just a few of the events still taking place throughout [...]
By Nicole Froio, Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The last day of the Grupo Especial (Special Group) samba school competition was full of color and life last night. The final school to parade was G.R.E.S. Unidos de Vila Isabel, who danced through the Sambódromo to the sound of the Samba-Enredo (Theme Song) ”A Vila [...]
By Nicole Froio, Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The first night of Grupo Especial (Special Group) samba school parades at the infamous Sambódromo was full of anticipation and performance technology. After two nights of the Access Group schools, and the city combusting with blocos, the Sunday and Monday Sambódromo parades mark the crescendo [...]
By Chesney Hearst, Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – While yesterday was the first night of the Grupo Especial (Special Group) samba school performances at the Marques de Sapucai Sambódromo, the rest of the city celebrated on the streets of Rio. The increasingly popular blocos paraded for the Carnaval da Rua (Street Carnival) across [...]
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