Carnival is Brazil's biggest celebration of the year — five days of music, parades, and street parties leading up to Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent. For nearly a week, the country essentially shuts down outside essential services and carnival-related businesses to celebrate, with Rio de Janeiro's parade alone drawing millions of people every year. Since the dates shift annually based on when Easter falls, this feed makes sure you don't have to recalculate it yourself. Click the green Configure button and choose how far ahead you want to be alerted.
Why use a reminder for Carnival?
- The dates move every year: Carnival is tied to Easter's lunar calendar, so it can land anywhere from early February to early March depending on the year — a reminder takes the guesswork out of tracking it.
- Plan travel well ahead of time: Rio's Carnival drew over 6 million people in 2018 alone, with around a quarter of those being travelers from outside the city — flights and accommodation fill up fast.
- Catch the parades before tickets sell out: The official samba school parades at Rio's Sambadrome are ticketed and highly sought after, so booking with notice matters if you actually want a seat.
- Know what's actually open: Outside of carnival-related businesses, restaurants, and tourist services, much of the country effectively pauses for the celebration — useful to know if you're trying to get anything else done that week.
How it all started
Brazil's first Carnival took place in Rio de Janeiro in 1723, brought over by Portuguese immigrants who introduced "Entrudo" — a rowdy practice of soaking each other with water and throwing mud, which often spiraled into street brawls. The celebration evolved through the 19th century into elaborate masquerade balls modeled on European high society, before working-class street parades took over by the century's end.
Where samba comes from
Samba itself wasn't part of Carnival until 1917. It emerged from the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio, carrying rhythms and traditions passed down from enslaved Africans, and quickly became the defining sound of the celebration. The first official samba school parade competition took place in 1929 with just three competing schools.
Worth knowing
Each region of Brazil celebrates Carnival differently. Rio's southeastern-style parades center on competitive samba schools at the purpose-built Sambadrome, while Bahia's northeastern celebrations favor a different mix of rhythms, including samba reggae and axé, played from massive sound trucks called trios elétricos.
So whether you're planning a trip to the Sambadrome or just want to know when the streets will be full of music, click that green Configure button and let the dates come to you.