Samba school experiences in Rio for groups

What we arrange

We take groups to samba school nights in Rio: travel agencies adding a night to a Rio program, corporate and incentive groups, school trips and interest groups such as music or dance groups. For each night we take care of:

• entry or tickets, where the event needs them;
• transport from the hotel and back, sized to the group (see group transfers);
• a local guide or coordinator from our vetted providers, who stays with the group as set out in the proposal;
• dinner before or after, or the samba night fitted into a longer city program.

A local provider we have vetted delivers each service. You deal only with us and receive the provider details after you confirm.

Rehearsals at the samba school halls

Each samba school has its own hall, the quadra, where it gets ready for Carnival. On a rehearsal night (ensaio de quadra) the drum section (bateria) practices, the dancers (passistas) rehearse and the community sings the school’s samba for the coming parade. Many schools also hold a feijoada with a roda de samba, usually on a Saturday or Sunday.

Rehearsals for the next parade pick up in the second half of the year. As Carnival gets closer they get busier and harder to get into. There is no shared calendar: each school posts its own dates, hours and ticket prices on its official social media, and prices can change from one event to the next. We check the schedules for your dates and buy tickets in advance where a school sells them online.

Many halls are outside the usual tourist areas, and the nights end late. The group goes and comes back together in the transport we arrange, and the guide sets the meeting point and the time to leave before everyone goes in.

Technical rehearsals at the Sambadrome (January 2027)

Before Carnival, LIESA, the league of the Special Group samba schools, holds technical rehearsals (ensaios técnicos) at the Sambadrome. Entry is free, and the nights include the light and sound tests of the avenue. On September 9, 2026, LIESA published the 2027 dates:

A rehearsal night works for a group that travels in January, or for one that wants a night at the Sambadrome without buying Carnival tickets. Since entry is free, we plan the timing and the transport there and back, and the guide sets the meeting point for the return.

Carnival 2027 at the Sambadrome

The Sambadrome, officially the Passarela Professor Darcy Ribeiro, is on Rua Marquês de Sapucaí in the Centro district. The Special Group parades there on February 7, 8 and 9, 2027, four schools a night. On Saturday, February 13, the six best-placed schools come back for the Champions Parade. Tickets are sold through Ticketmaster.

A group that follows one school can see it twice: at its January rehearsal and on its parade night. Seat types, prices, buying rules and getting there are on our Rio Carnival page. The Carnival 2027 group program builds four nights around one parade night.

Other ways to add samba

Cidade do Samba

The Cidade do Samba, at Rua Rivadávia Corrêa 60 in Gamboa, in the port district, is the complex of the samba schools’ workshops (barracões), where much of each Carnival starts to take shape. LIESA also holds samba events there, such as the Botequim da Cidade do Samba, a samba and pagode night that came back this season. We check what is on during your dates.

Parading with a school

Some schools sell places in commercial wings (alas comerciais) to the public, and others do not. Most places are taken months before Carnival, and costumes go back to the school after the parade. If your group wants to parade, we ask the schools about your night as early as we can.

Samba with dinner or a city program

Rehearsals start in the evening (at the Sambadrome, the Special Group from 19:00 or 20:00), so an early group dinner fits in before. A quadra rehearsal, or a January rehearsal night at the Sambadrome, also fits into a longer trip such as the Rio 4-day program. For corporate and incentive groups, see incentive trips.

How we work with you

1. You send the dates, the group size and the kind of samba night you have in mind, and a person from our team replies the same working day.
2. The proposal within 24 hours: the night, entry or tickets, transport, the guide and the guide’s language, dinner, price and terms.
3. One contact on our team until the group flies home.

More in how we work.

Group size and terms

Programs start from about 10 people. Groups of 50 and more are handled together with a large local receptive partner, and you keep one contact on our team. Our fee is already included in the price. Terms and payment are set out in the proposal; you pay nothing before you confirm. For Carnival, our deposit is non-refundable once you confirm, because seats are booked for your group. Travel agencies get net rates or commission on request: see for travel agencies.

Write to us with your dates and group size. More ideas are on group trips and in our sample group programs.