The biggest carnival in the world with 2 million people per day on the streets. The first festivals of Rio date back to 1723. It is celebrated in honor of the gods and to respect the great waters. Hours of parade filled with revelers, floats, and adornments from numerous samba schools of Rio. As the parade is taking place in the Sambadrome and the balls are being held in the Copacabana Palace and beach, many carnival participants are at other locations. Street festivals are very common during carnival and are highly populated by the locals. Elegance and extravagance are usually left behind, but music and dancing are still extremely common. Anyone is allowed to participate in the street festivals. Bandas and blocos are very familiar with the street carnival especially because it takes nothing to join in on the fun except to jump in. Future Dates: March 1 to 6, 2019. February 21 to 26, 2020. February 12 to 17, 2021. February 15 to 20, 2022.