Rio Carnival - Bloco's and RMC

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Its just over a week since carnival ended and in my head I’m still attempting to process the chaotic melee that was Rio at carnival time.



Its billed as the biggest party on earth and that’s a pretty spot on description but one that really doesn’t do it justice, it felt like more than just a party, it was more than just a party! With an estimated 2 million people a day taking to the streets it’s a long weekend of total madness.



The once quiet streets become impromptu dance floors, beaches turn into outdoor night clubs and everywhere you look you’re just as likely to see a guy dresses as a fairy – replete with 6foot high wings – as in a tuxedo, at carnival time anything goes and it really does.



Arriving into Rio on Friday the 8^th the city is just starting to gear up for the weekend ahead, blocos (street parties, where a block or more is closed to traffic, music is blasted from giant speakers mounted on the back of flatbed trucks, samba bands play, street sellers hawk cold beers and softdrinks…..) have been going on for a few evenings already but tonight would be my first taste of one and the start of the official bigger blocos all over the city.



We’re staying in southern district of the city, at Ipanema beach, our hostel – The Mango Tree – is a little oasis of calm when I arrive at lunch time. One block from the beach the high walls of the front courtyard block out a lot of the city sounds. After checking in and finding my London pal Natalie – lovely to see a face from home after all this time – we headed to the beach for a few beers and a mass catch up on what’s passed in our lives since we last saw each other in early Oct last year.



To celebrate the start of carnival The Mango Tree hostel hosted a welcome BBQ that evening, giving us a chance to meet some fellow carnival goers and find some people to head out and explore with.

Around 10pm we headed out to see what Ipanema had to offer. The streets had been totally transformed, where earlier in the day they were filled with beach goers, they were now thronged with revellers, fancy dress, normal dress, lots of people dressed in very little…… we moved through the streets, stopping to buy cold beers from guys carrying ice boxes, more often dancing our way along rather than walking. At times the mass of people becomes so intense, the air so heavy and humid, that if you ignore the street signs and traffic lights overhead you can forget you’re outside on a main road, but feel like you’re in a packed nightclub on the busiest dance floor. Heading towards the beach there are people everywhere on the sand, sitting, standing, dancing in the surf, all under the light of the moon. We hung out on the beach for a while, dancing, drinking, chatting with people, before heading to a bar for some aircon and a few G&Ts!



The next morning with a slight fuzzy and only a little jaded from lack of sleep we boarded the metro into the city centre to collect our prebooked tickets for the sambadrome and gay ball later in the weekend.

After finally locating the correct hotel collection point – we only got lost 3 times! – we headed to the infamous Copacabana beach to cool off after a hot and sweaty walk. Did I mention the heat? It’s been at least 32’ if not more every day in Rio, as soon as you leave the air conditioning you melt. This evening we would be heading out to a club night that doesn’t get going till gone 2am, so after lunch on the beach we headed back to the sanctuary of our aircon room for a siesta to prepare us for the night to come.



The Rio Music Conference runs throughout carnival, a massive temporary club in the harbour, it hosts a different international DJ every night, Natalie had managed to secure us tickets for the Saturday evening when Fat Boy Slim would be headlining.



We dined in Ipanema; sitting on the terrace of a restaurant gave us the perfect people watching opportunity as the partying continued around us, with if possible more intensity than the night before, this time it wasn’t even an official bloco, just hundreds of people wandering around, drinking and dancing in the street.



At midnight we jumped into a cab and headed out to the marina and the Rio Music Conference, meeting some friends outside we headed into an amazing night, it was immense. There was an amazing atmosphere in the venue, no queues for the bar or toilets, very impressed with the whole setup. Fat Boy Slim played from 2am till the early hours, we danced, danced and danced some more. It was immense.

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