Rio de Janeiro street Carnival ("Carnaval de rua") is alive, well and free. This year, nearly 500 blocos, or Carnival groups, registered with the city administration. Pre-Carnival has been going on for a few weeks, and tomorrow, the festivities go up several notches with many, many parades all over town.
Here are my top picks for Carnival Saturday blocos this year. They include monster-size blocos such as Cordão da Bola Preta and Banda de Ipanema as well as some not-so-famous, yet cool blocos such as Cinebloco for the cinephile crowd.
There are many more parades than what's on my list, and if you'd like to see a vast round-up, go to my favorite Rio de Janeiro bloco parade source, the Street Carnival Guide from Agenda do Samba e Choro. Have a great time!
Photo: Cordão da Bola Preta parade. Publius Vergilius/Riotur. View full-size.
