• Menu

Curious About Blocos? Check This Out! [Rio Carnival 2023]

We woke up around 11 p.m. on Saturday after the night at the sambodromo. I put on shorts and a t-shirt and went out to buy a cafezinho right around the corner.

The Airbnb street, a quiet side street, was completely mobbed.

No way I could even reach the corner of it. Not as fast as I wanted, anyway, although everybody seemed to be going in this direction.

Back to the apartment.

“Where are they all coming from?”

Feng shrugged. “Centro, I guess. The first blocos started at 7 a.m. Hey, look, I bought a skirt!”

Okay, time to go into full Carnival mode, I guess. If my husband is going to wear a polka-dot skirt—“just like Miraculous!” he specified—then I’m wearing my own costume, bought a few days ago in the street.

Friday was technically the first day of Carnival, but now, on Saturday, it was in full swing.

The three of us applied a generous amount of glitter and went out for a day of blocos.

Okay, so what the hell is a bloco? A bloco is basically a block party gone wild—these are Brazil’s street carnival parties. There are hundreds of blocos throughout Carnival—and some during pré-carnaval and post-carnaval.

Blocos are informal but very organized in a way. There are lists of them online, with expected attendance and address. The smallest blocos gather a few hundred, but millions show up at the megablocos. Some start as early as 7 a.m. and they can last for hours.

Most blocos feature a specific theme or a pun, like “the barbarians”, or nuns in Santa Teresa. Some blocos are super old, like the Banda de Ipanema, a classic. Sometimes it’s just about gathering and standing there, drinking, but some blocos have a stage or a marching band.

And during Carnival, millions move from blocos to blocos all day long.

“And it’s basically opposite day”, I explained to Mark. “Anything goes.” Guys wear skirts, girls wear anything but mostly as little as possible.” It’s hot, it’s crowded, and you can’t really take anything with you but your phone and wallet, and both are best stashed under your belt or in your bra (works for guys too since many wear a bra!).  

So we spent Saturday bloco-ing. We started in Flamengo, where the Airbnb is located. Now, you can see Rio as a not-so-straight line—there’s Centro, Santa Teresa, Lapa, Glória, Catete, Flamengo, Botafogo, Copacabana and Ipanema.

Flamengo was a pit stop for many bloco-goers, there are tons of eateries and plenty of street vendors selling costumes.

We bumped into a massive bloco in Botafogo, and we just followed the crowd. After a few hours, we decided to move to Copacabana—no bloco there, so we kept on going until Ipanema where everybody was waiting for the famous Banda de Ipanema, a marching band that gather hundreds of thousands.

After sunset, I walked back to Flamengo—took me two hours. The guys took the very crowded subway, another entertaining option during Carnival, where each cart turns into a mini-bloco during the ride.

And that was day 1 of Carnival. Tomorrow? Same thing, more people!

Starting point, Rua Buarque de Macedo,  Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro
Starting point, Rua Buarque de Macedo, Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro
Starting point, Rua Buarque de Macedo,  Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro
Rua Buarque de Macedo, Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro
Rua do Catete, Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro
Rua do Catete, Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro
Largo do Machado, Catete, Rio de Janeiro
Largo do Machado, Catete, Rio de Janeiro
Largo do Machado, Catete, Rio de Janeiro
Largo do Machado, Catete, Rio de Janeiro
Largo do Machado, Catete, Rio de Janeiro
Largo do Machado, Catete, Rio de Janeiro
Largo do Machado, Catete, Rio de Janeiro
Largo do Machado, Catete, Rio de Janeiro
Largo do Machado, Catete, Rio de Janeiro
Largo do Machado, Catete, Rio de Janeiro
Praia de Botafogo,  Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro
Praia de Botafogo, Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro
Praia de Botafogo,  Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro
Praia de Botafogo, Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro
Praia de Botafogo,  Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro
Praia de Botafogo, Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro
Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro
Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro
Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro
Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro
Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro
Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro
Bloco do Barbas, Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro
Bloco do Barbas, Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro
Bloco do Barbas, Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro
Bloco do Barbas, Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro
Bloco do Barbas, Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro
Bloco do Barbas, Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro
Bloco do Barbas, Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro
Bloco do Barbas, Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro
Bloco do Barbas, Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro
Bloco do Barbas, Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro
Bloco do Barbas, Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro
Bloco do Barbas, Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro
Bloco do Barbas, Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro
Bloco do Barbas, Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro
Bloco do Barbas, Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro
Bloco do Barbas, Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro
Bloco do Barbas, Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro
Bloco do Barbas, Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro
Bloco do Barbas, Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro
Bloco do Barbas, Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro
Let's keep on walking...
Let’s keep on walking…
Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro
Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro
Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro
Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro
Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro
Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro
Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro
Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro
Praça General Osório - Rua Visconde de Pirajá - Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro
Praça General Osório – Rua Visconde de Pirajá – Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro
Praça General Osório - Rua Visconde de Pirajá - Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro
Praça General Osório – Rua Visconde de Pirajá – Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro
Praça General Osório - Rua Visconde de Pirajá - Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro
Praça General Osório – Rua Visconde de Pirajá – Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro
Praça General Osório - Rua Visconde de Pirajá - Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro
Praça General Osório – Rua Visconde de Pirajá – Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro
Praça General Osório - Rua Visconde de Pirajá - Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro
Praça General Osório – Rua Visconde de Pirajá – Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro
Praça General Osório - Rua Visconde de Pirajá - Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro
Praça General Osório – Rua Visconde de Pirajá – Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro
Praça General Osório - Rua Visconde de Pirajá - Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro
Praça General Osório – Rua Visconde de Pirajá – Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro
Banda de Ipanema bloco, Rio de Janeiro
Banda de Ipanema bloco, Rio de Janeiro
Banda de Ipanema bloco, Rio de Janeiro
Banda de Ipanema bloco, Rio de Janeiro
Banda de Ipanema bloco, Rio de Janeiro
Banda de Ipanema bloco, Rio de Janeiro
Banda de Ipanema bloco, Rio de Janeiro
Banda de Ipanema bloco, Rio de Janeiro
Banda de Ipanema bloco, Rio de Janeiro
Banda de Ipanema bloco, Rio de Janeiro
Banda de Ipanema bloco, Rio de Janeiro
Banda de Ipanema bloco, Rio de Janeiro
Banda de Ipanema bloco, Rio de Janeiro
Banda de Ipanema bloco, Rio de Janeiro
Banda de Ipanema bloco, Rio de Janeiro
Banda de Ipanema bloco, Rio de Janeiro
Banda de Ipanema bloco, Rio de Janeiro
Banda de Ipanema bloco, Rio de Janeiro
Share this article!
Zhu

French woman in English Canada.

Exploring the world with my camera since 1999, translating sentences for a living, writing stories that may or may not get attention.

Firm believer that nobody is normal... and it’s better this way.

View stories

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

11 comments