The main and most important venue of the Samba School parades is the Sambadrome, a wide parading avenue sided by several blocks of seats. (You'll know more about the Sambadrome soon)

The Sambadrome hosts 6 grand parades every year during the Carnival season: they are the competitions most awaited by the caRIOcas (Rio born people). Five of these parades involve the top Schools whereas one of them promotes the Junior Schools.

the Samba Schools of Rio

To understand the importance of the Sambadrome parades in the samba community, you have to keep in mind that there are nearly 100 Samba Schools in Rio and that the highlight of their very existence is the Carnival season with its parading competition.

Schools are ranked hierarchically into 6 groups: the SPECIAL group and groups A, B, C, D and E. Each of these Samba School groups contains between 8 to 14 Schools which compete among themselves during the Carnival season. The winner becomes the group-champion of the year. As for the Junior Schools group, it's currently composed by 18 Schools.

the competition

The competition makes every group-champion School of the year be promoted to the immediately superior group. Likewise, the Schools to score the least points in their groups are downgraded to the immediately inferior group.

Therefore all Schools strive to improve their positions within the general contest and to become group-champions. The champion of the Carnival is the champion of the SPECIAL GROUP.

The groups to parade through the Sambadrome during the Carnival season are the SPECIAL group and groups A and B. The Juniors parade the Friday just before the Carnival and the Champions - the 6 top Schools from the SPECIAL group - parade the Saturday afterwards.

Below, we present the schedule for RIO CARNIVAL 2009 grand parades at the Sambadrome. For more details about the best locations to watch the parades along the Sambadrome, check our next section, choosing the location.

(If you're happy with the information you've had so far and wish to buy your tickets now, please proceed to Carnival 2009 Price List and/or Rio Carnival Tickets in our shopping area.)

The schedule for RIO CARNIVAL 2009 grand parades at the Sambadrome goes as following:

	Groups of Schools	Date and Time for 2009	Schools Names	Description
1	SPECIAL GROUP (1st parade) Schools: 6 of 12	Sunday, Feb. 22nd 9:00pm to 6:00am	Império Serrano Grande Rio Vila Isabel Mocidade Independente Beija-flor de Nilópolis Unidos da Tijuca	high point of Carnival; magnificent and sumptuous parades; major Schools each with approximately. 5,000 members
2	SPECIAL GROUP (2nd parade) Schools: 6 of 12	Monday, Feb. 23rd 9:00pm to 6:00am	Porto da Pedra Salgueiro Imperatriz Leopoldinense Portela Mangueira Viradouro
3	GROUP A Schools: 10	Saturday, Feb. 21st starting from 8:00pm	São Clemente Estácio de Sá Inocentes de Belford Roxo Paraíso do Tuiuti Império da Tijuca União da Ilha do Governador Acadêmicos da Rocinha Renascer de Jacarepaguá Acadêmicos de Santa Cruz Caprichosos de Pilares	Schools aspiring to ascend to the SPECIAL GROUP; narrate plots through samba, costumes and allegoric cars
4	GROUP B Schools: 14	Tuesday, Feb. 24th starting from 7:00pm	Alegria da Zona Sul Independente da Praça da Bandeira União de Jacarepaguá União do Parque Curicica Corações Unidos do Amarelinho Tradição Sereno de Campo Grande Unidos de Padre Miguel Lins Imperial Unidos do Jacarezinho Acadêmicos do Cubango Arrastão de Cascadura Boi da Ilha do Governador Arranco	base group; popular basis from which the bigger Schools originate; small size Schools, each with aprox. 1,500 members
5	Champion Schools Parade Schools: 6	Saturday, Feb. 28th (after Carnival) 9:00pm to 6:00am	the six top Schools (from the Special Group) of Rio Carnival 2009 Special attractions* - 08:00 p.m. 6th place 5th place 4th place 3rd place Vice-Champion Champion * This presentations are occasional.
6	Junior Schools Schools: 18	Friday, Feb. 20th (prior to Carnival) starting from 5:00pm	AVAILABLE IN OCTOBER	branches of major Schools, composed by children of their communities

Now that you know the most important issues about the parades, you should check about THE LOCATION: THE VARIOUS SEATING AREAS.