By Chesney Hearst, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Friday, January 4th, The Independent League of Samba Schools of Rio de Janeiro (LIESA) reopened sales of 17,354 special bleacher and individual seating tickets for the Grupo Especial (Special Group) Carnival parades this year at the Sambódromo in Rio.
The tickets for the event which will take place on the Carnival nights of Sunday, February 10th and Monday, February 11th, had been previously reserved but not paid for in full by the cutoff date of December 20th.
These tickets are only available for those who live in the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan region, with 1,750 set aside for buyers from other parts of the country.
Those who did not pay for the tickets the first time, or any CPF numbers (like Social Security numbers) used for the booking in the first stage, can not be used again.
On Monday, January 14th sales will begin for tickets for Champions’ Parade, which will take place on February 16th. Those sales will also be transacted via the telephone system.
For those who cannot obtain tickets to the major events in the Sambódromo during this year’s four days of Carnival, attending the free ongoing technical rehearsals also held at the Sambódromo is an additional option. Each samba school has a scheduled rehearsal date to practice placing and their procession.
During technical rehearsals the full floats and costumes are not likely to be on display, but the school will sing and play their Sambo-Enredo (Theme song). Two Special Group samba schools, Mocidade and União da Ilha are scheduled to practice today [Sunday, Jan. 6th, 2013] at 8PM and 9PM respectively. For LIESA’s complete schedule of Technical Practices see here.
Sales are done through an automated telephone system with 900 lines available for residents of the Rio metropolitan area within the (21) area code. Buyers from outside the metropolitan area of Rio should call the telephone (21) 3035-7676.
See below for phone reservations for buyers in the Metropolitan Region of Rio:
Arquibancadas (Grandstands):
Sector 2 (R$200): 3445-0002
Sector 3 (R$200): 3445-0003
Sector 4 (R$260): 3445-0004
Sector 5 (R$260): 3445-0005
Sector 6 (R$300): 3445-0006
Sector 7 (R$300): 3445-0007
Sector 8 (R$320): 3445-0008
Sector 10 (R$200): 3445-0010
Sector 11 (R$200): 3445-0011
Cadeiras (Chairs):
Sector 12: (R$130): 3445-0012
Sector 13: (R$130): 3445-0013
Read more (in Portuguese)
* The Rio Times Daily Updates feature is offered to help keep you up-to-date with important news as it happens.