Technical samba school rehearsals in the Sambodromo start this Saturday.

The first Samba School technical rehearsal in the Sambodromo is on the 6th December. Entrance remains free. These rehearsals are enormously popular - in 2009 there was an average of 40,000 spectators at each one. This year these rehearsals will mostly be on Saturday and Sunday evenings; the Friday night events have been curtailed because the necessary road closures caused enormous traffic problems last year.

Saturday 6th Dec also has 3 local football matches , so the rehearsals may be later than originally advertised, to allow the football crowds to disperse down Avenida Presidente Vargas before it is partially closed for the rehearsal.

To find out more about the Rio Carnival technical rehearsals in the sambodromo, and to see a timetable, click here.

Who runs the Rio Carnival samba School parades?

A complicated question, on some levels.

And the best song for carnival 2010 is....

Imperatriz’ samba  enredo has been voted the most popular of the Grupo Especial songs for Rio Carnival by a specially selected panel of judges in O Dia, the Rio de Janeiro newspaper. I agree; nice melody, good lyrics and, crucially, easy to sing.

Imperatriz’s theme for carnival 2010 is ‘Brazil of all the gods', and you can see a preview of their costumes for carnival 2010 here. Imperatriz’s carnavalesco (artistic designer) is Max Lopez. The official Grupo Especial CD is released on 7th December; you can buy it here.

The Rio samba school Salgueiro is planning to be holding its street rehearsals regularly on Wednesday evenings at Rua Sivas Teles, starting at 9pm.

The whole samba school will be practicing their parade down on the street, and singing their samba for 2010 "Stories without end"

The bateria will be out in force  with over 200 drummers, led by Mestre Marcão, and the puxador Quinho singing the song through a huge mobile sound system.

As usual with street rehearsals, there will be hot dog stalls, street barbecues, plenty of beer and other street food and drink to create a real party atmosphere.

Have you always dreamed about parading with a Rio Samba School?

If you get the opportunity, here's how to get the very best out of your experience.

You can buy a tourist package for Rio Carnival that includes parading with a Samba School.  You can also organise it yourself (advice below). Either way, if you want to know how to get the most out of this once in a lifetime experience, here's how to go about it.

 Heres a pic of one of the costumes  the samba school Mocidade Independente is producing for carnival 2010.

 A costume for Rio Carnival 2010 from the samba school Imperatriz.

67 meter Rio carnival float

Beija Flor is planning a 67meter long float for Rio Carnival 2010!

Rio Carnival floats are already gigantic. Up to 30 meters long, they often have problems getting under the motorway flyover outside the Sambadromo.  Sometimes floats get stuck trying to get round the right angled corner at the beginning of the sambodromo. Just one stuck float can create a gap in the parade that can prevent a samba school from winning the carnaval, the culmination of an entire years work.

Mangueira has also announced plans for a float over 60m long. There's no way that a 67m float can get round the corner, so there must be some clever engineering solutions planned. Will it be constructed like a train, or a caterpillar, with different segments joined together? Will there be a main part and then outlying bits connected by costume or theme?