RIO CARNIVAL - The Greatest Show on Earth

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Well the night finally arrived and it was time for the Rio Carnival - a dream come true for Andy and something we were all excited about. The evening started with a street carnival on the road below our apartment. We hung out the window and watched people dancing to the band music down the street. The mood was electric.

Getting to the Sambadrome was easy, but chaotic. We took the Metro along with 1000s of other party revellers who sang and beat the walls of the train. As we walked to our section of the Sambadrome we bumped into one of the performers who turned out to be from Solihull, a stone’s throw from where we live in England.

We’d bought tickets in sector 11 - cheaper as it was at the end of the parade. However they turned out to be spectacular seats - we had front row seats in a box by the runway and were so close to the action we could almost smell the sweat of the performers.

The first Samba school we would see made its way down the runway. First came the Flag Bearing Lady and her Male Escort. This was followed by the much respected Swirling Ladies, mostly elderly ladies from the community who have been with the school for many years. Some of them were well into their 80s but they were giving it their all. Then came the drummers with their Queen, an outstandingly beautiful woman dressed in gold and feathers.

The procession continued with huge, ornate floats and thousands of dancers. People were so happy, cheering and applauding as they went along. You couldn’t help but feel the euphoria.
When you took a photo of the performers they’d light up and pose when possible - they loved the attention.

The performers came in all shapes and sizes, some were beautiful and slim, some were ... well not. But most importantly they were having the time of their lives.

Each of the schools had 4 or 5 huge floats, 1000s of dancers and amazing costumes. They danced down the runway for about 50 minutes then we’d have a break of 10 minutes or so before the next school started their parade. It was on such a huge scale that it was mind-boggling.

Amy enjoyed the parade as much as all of us. She danced more than us, she screamed (literally) with delight for hours and stayed up until the small hours of the morning without any complaint. She didn’t seem to tire, just got a bit hyper. Some people in the box next to ours played with Amy, gave her a costume and at times kept her entertained. They were lovely.

After one of the schools had got to the end of their parade a local radio station were giving out t-shirts. Amy waved her arms and got their attention and soon was given a t-shirt from one of the schools, a wonderful momento.

By 5am we were tired and decided to go home, even though there were another two schools to go.

As we walked through the streets there were some of the costumes just dumped on the streets - such a waste and had we been in England we’d have stocked up for our next fancy dress party. The metro station was surrounded by homeless families sleeping rough and party revellers just making their way home. The city was just as lively as it had been earlier in the night. We, however, were not lively by that stage. We got on the metro with some of the performers still in costume, Amy fell fast asleep not to be woken and we piggy-backed her back to the apartment.

Never before (and probably never again) had we seen a spectacle like it. It’s the biggest, most colourful and beautiful show on earth, without a doubt!

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