Welcome to the Sambadrome

It's Saturday night in Rio de Janeiro and Carnival is already in full swing. The annual Sambadrome spectacle begins tomorrow. What is Sambadrome? It's the annual Carnival competition of Rio's top samba dance crews. Costumes, floats, synchronized dancing, music, drumming, 85,000 spectators packed into a stadium under lights. When people outside of Brazil think 'Carnival' the images that come to mind are samba. Here's a taste. For more information about Brazilian Carnaval, see our primer 'Brazilian Carnival For Beginners'.