TDSounds

Official tourist ticket prices for Rio carnival 2011

Riotur (the Rio de Janeiro state tourist office) has announced the prices of tourist tickets for Rio carnival 2011. These are the tickets for sector 9, which is reserved for tourists. However, you need to bear in mind that the prices below are face value prices, and to get them you would have to be in Brazil on the precise day that the tickets are released. In practice this is very unlikely to happen. These tickets are bought by tourist agency and tour organisers, who have to make a living. Expect to pay well above these prices if buying from an agency, whether online or in person in Rio.

Saturday - Grupo de Acesso - Arquibancadas (stands or bleachers) R$30. Frisas (private boxes) will R$800 per seat.

Sunday and Monday - Grupo Especial (the top group) tickets will cost between R$550 for the arquibancadas and R$5,800 for the frisas.

On the following Saturday, in the parade of Champions, tickets will cost R$350 for the arquibancadas and R$3,400 for the frisas.

Rio carnival tickets went on sale last Wednesday and sold out in 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, if you are a tourist you don't need to worry - these are the tickets reserved for Rio inhabitants (cariocas). Despite the League of Samba School's system of only selling a maximum of four tickets over the phone to each customer, who has to prove that they live in Rio, many of these tickets will end up with touts and ticket agencies. Its the poor Carioca samba fans who then can't then afford to buy them at inflated mark ups.

However, somehow my article has disappeared from this blog, along with all earlier blog entries.  This is a summary - I'll do a full rewrite soon. You can buy the official CD of Rio carnival 2010 HERE