Parades after Carnaval!

OK, just one more post since this might affect people's travel plans for next year. I just noticed a great new trend. Some of the Especial escolas have started doing a full parade the week AFTER the Parade of Champions (2 weeks after the Carnaval weekend). Mocidade and Portela both asked all their paraders to save their costumes for two weeks so that they could do 1 more parade - and - this is the cool part - they're doing it IN THEIR LOCAL COMMUNITY. Full costumes, all the parade sections, porta-bandeiras in full costume, bateria, the works. (Just no floats, because they can't afford to ship the floats all that distance.) In addition, Império Serrano had a gigantic party this weekend too, not a parade exactly but a huge feijoada with the bateria playing.

It's such a great idea - bring the Carnaval back to the people who support that escola all year long; and, what's more, to people who have no way of affording a ticket to see the parade in the Sambodromo.

I don't know if this has been happening all along and I've just missed it, but it's cool. And there's definitely a new possibility shaping up for anybody who can't afford Rio during Carnaval itself: Come immediately after Carnaval (like, arrive on Ash Wednesday or that Thursday or Friday) and stay for the next 2 weekends. You can see the Parade of Champions, the Monobloco parade and all the other cool blocos that parade that weekend - Mulheres de Chico and Banda de Ipanema now parade that weekend too, along with several others - and then these local escola parades & parties the weekend after that. Housing will be a ton cheaper, and you'll get to see some fantastic stuff.