Rio's Carnival period starts Friday, with the top schools kicking off three days of glittering parades on Sunday. Rio's tourism agency Riotur president Bernardo Fellows told AFP that 52 million reais ($10 million) had been allocated to samba schools through the ranks. But the roots come from here, they come from the North Zone." Nowadays it's a luxury carnival, a carnival of feathers, sequins, VIP boxes." These people shouldn't just be there to parade to fill the samba school, they need to appreciate the spectacle as well."

Source: Bangkok Post February 13, 2026 12:50 UTC