Rio de Janeiro Carnival 2009 - Special Group Schedule

Know Which Samba Schools Will Parade on Carnival Sunday and Monday

August 3, 2008

Rio de Janeiro Carnival 2009 (Feb. 21-Feb. 24) preparations are already under way. On June 30, there was a draw at Liesa – the Independent Samba School League – to determine the sequence of samba schools for the spectacular Rio Carnival parades on Sunday, Feb. 22, and Monday, Feb. 23, 2009.

The samba schools associated with Liesa are the best in the Rio de Janeiro Carnival. The group of 12 samba schools is known as the Special Group – Grupo Especial.

The Rio de Janeiro Carnival Parade at the Sambódromo follows a strict schedule which is one of the greatest challenges for every samba school, since the parade is also a contest and delays cause samba schools to lose points.

Each samba school has to parade for a minimum of 65 minutes and a maximum of 82 minutes.

This is the sequence of samba schools for the Sunday and Monday parades, which are scheduled to last from 9pm to 3:50am:

Império Serrano - The school will open the parade because it was the champion of Access Group A
1. Grande Rio
2. Vila Isabel
3. Mocidade Independente
4. Beija-Flor
5. Unidos da Tijuca

1. Porto da Pedra
2. Salgueiro
3. Imperatriz Leopoldinense
4. Portela
5. Mangueira
6. Viradouro