Carnival is less an event than a week-long suspension of the laws of physics, and the Sambadrome's feathered mega-parades are only the televised summit. The real festival is the blocos: hundreds of free street parties, each with its own brass band, costume code and neighbourhood, rolling from 7am crawls to midnight mayhem. Book flights and rooms six months out, base yourself near Ipanema or Santa Teresa, and download a bloco timetable app — improvising is for amateurs.
Featured in Ten festival trips worth building a holiday around · Nightlife