Last night's Samba School Parade was quite an experience. (They're not schools like we use the word. The term refers to social clubs that have organized to put on a samba performance. Last night 7 competed for the title, tonight 7 more compete and then they have the Championship Contest next Saturday night when the best 6 go head to head.)
The Sambadromo holds about 20,000 spectators. Each Samba School has between 3,000 and 5,000 performers in their parade. There's about a 15 minute break between each parade while they clean the route and the next parade gets ready.
Each school has its own colors -- like a sports team. The crowd favorite last night was "Mangueira." This school passed out small flags to the crowd just before their parade. Excellent showmanship!
While each parade was very different, they also had certain conventions. Each parade starts with fireworks, for instance. The photos below show some of the other conventions. (I've mixed and matched photos from different parades so the colors aren't consistent like they were within each parade.)
Of course, leading up to the events I kept hearing warnings about pickpocketing. All I took was some cash, which I divided up evenly between three pockets. It turns out I was seated in the tourist section with a bunch of people who probably couldn't even pick their own pockets if they tried. I came home with cash in all three pockets. Where's the adventure in that? (Just kidding -- not tempting fate here.)
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