Home Travel Inspiration

The greatest show on Earth is ending soon!

Carnival in Rio is finishing up, and if you couldn't make it there this year, here's a run down on what it's about, what to do there, and – most importantly – what dance moves you'll need to learn for next time!

Carnival in Rio is finishing up, and if you couldn’t make it there this year, here’s a run down on what it’s about, what to do there, and – most importantly – what dance moves you’ll need to learn for next time!

Celebrated every year just before Lent, Carnival (no, not the cruise line!) in Rio de Janeiro is a world famous festival that’s considered to be the biggest carnival on the planet.

It runs for five days, and over two million revellers celebrating with booze and moves can be found on the streets each and every day during the festival.

The Brazilians have been doing this for centuries – literally. Carnival dates back to 1723, and every year it seems the festivities just keep on getting bigger and brighter.

And this year, not even the Zika virus seems to be enough to put them off their beloved carnival.

Check out this video of last year’s shenanigans…

As you can see from the video, music and dance are integral to the Rio carnival. The most famous dance is carnival samba, a sultry sexy form of Brazilian dance with African influences.

Those Brazilians sure know how to move… (Can you imagine them tearing up the d-floor at a Buzz Night?)

Here’s an introduction to dancing the samba that you might find helpful:

Ipenema and Copacabana are popular areas to stay whilst celebrating carnival – you’ll be immersed in street parties (called blocos) here.

Carnival is free, and you’ll only need to fork out money if you want to see the official samba competition (tickets cost from US$60 to well over $1,000).

But that’s ok: you have about a year to save for the best seats to the greatest show on Earth…

Will you be going to carnival in Rio next year? Let us know in the comments below.