How to buy a Rio Carnival Ticket

Independent advice! This user guide is based on years of buying Rio carnival tickets for my own use. You can't buy them directly from us, but this article points you in the right direction.

 The samba schools enter at the bottom of the picture; the official start of the parade is at the dotted line in between setors 1 and 3. The parades finish at the far end of the picture, between setors 13 and 6,  and disperse into the streets behind. In Grupo Especial, each samba school takes around 90 minutes to complete its parade, and there are 6 samba schools per night.

Types of ticket

The cheapest tickets are for sectors 1, 6 and 13. Sector 1 is before the official start of the parade, sectors 13 and 16 are at the end. Sectors 13 and 6 have restricted views. Theoretically these are community seats, but some tourists find tickets for them anyway.

The arquibancadas are the stalls or bleachers, in sectors 3,4,5,7,9 and 11.  If you want to get near the front, turn up a couple of hours early, as individual seats are not reserved - but the view is OK from further back (except in sector 4). This year Sector 9 did have reserved seats for the first time. Take a cushion to sit on.

 The frisas are open boxes with benches down eachside, Frisa seats are very expensive, but that's because you have a ringside seat. For the best view, look for a frisa in lines A or B, or at a pinch, C.

Most expensive of all are the camarotes (sector 2), enclosed private boxes. You will get exclusivity here and the full luxury treatment, but the view can be restricted, if you are not right at the front. These are the seats to go for if you have tons of money, prefer expensive things, and want to avoid the general public.  Most visiting heads of states and A list celebrities sit in camarotes.

Buying your ticket

The tickets become available in December and sell out within minutes. But you can reserve through an agency earlier than this. Tourists usually have to buy from an agency anyway, either online or in Rio. Prices will be several times higher than the ticket face value, but your chances of getting a ticket at the original price are almost nil. Be prepared.

Rio travel agents usually have tickets available until a day or so before carnival. Online prices seem very similar to those in a Rio travel agency. I have bought online and had no problems, although I was careful to check my supplier very thoroughly before committing my money.

Purchasers receive a voucher, which is exchanged for an actual ticket a couple of days before carnival. Your agent will take care of this, but it means that you won't get your hands on your ticket until the last minute. The system is designed to stop forgeries. Rio carnival tickets look different every year.

I strongly recommend that you don't buy tickets from the 'nice guy you met on the beach' as they may well be faked. In my experience ALL brazilians are charming, which makes it very hard to work out who you can trust!