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Rio Carnival 2012: A playlist of traditional Carnival songs

Rio Carnival 2012: A playlist of traditional Carnival songs Feb 25th, 2012 at 9:00AM: During Carnival, the city of Rio de Janeiro pulses with the sound of percussion. Music is an integral part of the Brazilian festival, and it doesn't seem like you can turn a corner without hearing the infectious drum-driven beats of samba music or the sounds of drunken celebrants singing traditional marchinhas at the tops of their lungs. Particularly in the blocos, music is a binding force, ...

Rio Carnival 2012: The hottest drag queen costumes

Rio Carnival 2012: The hottest drag queen costumes Feb 24th, 2012 at 11:00AM: At Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, it was common to come across fully made-up men who had traded their Havaianas for high heels. Though some were experienced cross dressers and drag queens, others saw the holiday as an opportunity to get in touch with their more feminine sides. Costumes ranged from the elaborate (Sambadrome-style feathers, stilettos, fake lashes) to the scrappy (tiny skirt, ...

Rio Carnival 2012: Backstage at the Sambadrome parades

Rio Carnival 2012: Backstage at the Sambadrome parades Feb 22nd, 2012 at 5:30PM: "Follow the feathers" was my strategy for finding the Sambadrome stadium in Brazil this past Sunday, the first evening of Rio Carnival's famed samba parades. The metro exit was packed with crowds moving in all different directions, so I had little choice but to follow the handful of people wearing large, extravagant costumes in front of me. They were obviously going where I needed to go. ...

Rio Carnival 2012: Best street foods for partying all day (and night)

Rio Carnival 2012: Best street foods for partying all day (and night) Feb 22nd, 2012 at 12:00PM: It's impossible to survive consecutive days of Carnival blocos, parties, and parades without adding hits of nutrition to your daily beer diet. For this, Rio de Janeiro's street food vendors have you covered. Street food can be found everywhere in Rio de Janeiro, particularly during big events like Carnival and New Year's. Mobile carts and stands offer cheap, tasty Brazilian eats -- vital ...

Video of the Day: Adorable little girls dancing samba at Rio Carnival

Feb 21st, 2012 at 6:00PM: The scene outside the Sambodrome stadium on the first night of Rio Carnival's famed samba school parades was madness. Hordes of people moved in all directions while scalpers hawked tickets, street vendors fried food, and costumed paraders maneuvered in huge feathered costumes. As far as Fat Tuesday celebrations go, this was tops. In the middle of the chaos, these two talented little girls ...

Rio Carnival 2012: Costume shopping and impromptu samba dancing

Rio Carnival 2012: Costume shopping and impromptu samba dancing Feb 21st, 2012 at 11:00AM: During Carnival, the streets of the Saara market in Old Downtown Rio de Janeiro are flooded with local cariocas shopping for wacky beer hats, neon-colored wigs, cheap plastic accessories, and the ubiquitous noise horns, which echo periodically (and loudly) in the air. If you're in the market for last-minute costumes for Carnival's parties and parades, Saara is undoubtedly the place to be. ...

Rio Carnival 2012: 10 best bloco street parties

Rio Carnival 2012: 10 best bloco street parties Feb 20th, 2012 at 3:30PM: If you want to feel the real essence of Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, look no further than the city streets. In the weeks leading up to Fat Tuesday, lively street parties and parades, called blocos, wind throughout Rio's various neighborhoods, led by floats blaring live samba music. Crowds can swell to upwards of 200,000 people, many dressed in outrageous costumes and more than a little ...

Video: Rio Carnival's biggest street party, Cordão do Bola Preta

Feb 20th, 2012 at 10:30AM: Despite a nearly unbearable early morning start time, the Cordão do Bola Preta bloco on Saturday attracted more than 2.2 million people -- the most any of Rio de Janeiro's popular Carnival street parties has ever seen. The party got started at 8:30 a.m. in Largo da Candelária and traveled down Avenida Rio Branco before finishing in a huge dance party in Cinelândia ...

Rio Carnival 2012: what's new this year

Rio Carnival 2012: what's new this year Feb 17th, 2012 at 10:00AM: Rio Carnival 2012 is being looked upon as the Brazilian city's "coming of age". Not only are experts predicting a record number of revelers, but the world's eyes will also be trained on Rio de Janeiro to see how it manages the crowds and festivities, particularly as the city prepares to host both the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games. Organizers are pulling out all the stops ...

Rio de Janeiro police strike threatens Carnival festivities, then fizzles

Rio de Janeiro police strike threatens Carnival festivities, then fizzles Feb 13th, 2012 at 2:30PM: A police strike in Rio de Janeiro just a week before Carnival threatened to wreak mass chaos upon Brazil's largest festival celebration. But just one day in, Rio's state government announced that the strike had "failed", with just a small percentage of officers taking part. "It is very difficult to talk of a protest movement without participants," said Chao Francisco, union president for the ...

The ultimate guide to Carnival in Rio: parties and parades

The ultimate guide to Carnival in Rio: parties and parades Feb 3rd, 2012 at 9:00AM: What's Carnival in Rio de Janeiro without its lively parties and parades? Now that planning, packing, and logistics are taken care of, it's time to think about the important stuff: your social calendar. In this second installment of the ultimate guide to Carnival in Rio, we'll walk you through some of the main events. ...

The ultimate guide to Carnival in Rio: planning, packing and logistics

The ultimate guide to Carnival in Rio: planning, packing and logistics Jan 31st, 2012 at 1:00PM: Attending Carnival in Rio de Janeiro tops many a bucket list, and for good reason. Not only is Rio Carnaval one of the world's sexiest festivals, it's also an important cultural event for the people of Brazil. Last year, more than 4.9 million people participated in the week-long festival of parades, parties, and carousing in the streets, and the number is expected to increase yet again this ...

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