Carnival broadcasts show the glitter of costumes and the scale of the floats, but not the scoring system behind every school’s parade: nine criteria, dozens of judges, and a strict time limit. This guide explains how judging works, what happens after the parade, and what it takes for a visitor to walk the Sambadrome runway. Rio’s street blocos are a different world: free Carnival without stands or judges.
The structure: who performs
Parades run across several divisions. The top tier is Grupo Especial (the “top 12”)—Rio’s twelve strongest schools. One step below is Série Ouro, formerly Grupo de Acesso: in 2026 it featured 15 schools (seven on the first night, eight on the second) competing for a place in Grupo Especial for the third year running. Below that come Série Prata and the junior divisions.
Since 2025, Grupo Especial has performed on three consecutive nights—four schools per evening. LIESA (the samba-school league) and Riotur (the city’s tourism authority) announce the exact order shortly before Carnival.
How one parade works
Each school moves along the Sambadrome runway for roughly 55–80 minutes, depending on that year’s rules—LIESA sets the exact limit before every Carnival. Finishing early or running over time costs points. In that window every element must pass: the opening commission, the costumed wings (alas), the large floats (alegorias), the percussion section (bateria), and the flag-bearing couple.
What the jury scores
Judges score the performance on nine official criteria: bateria (percussion), the year’s samba theme song, harmony, evolution (smooth movement along the runway), the storyline (enredo), floats and props, costumes, the opening commission, and the mestre-sala and porta-bandeira pair (the dancer and the flag bearer).
In 2026 each of the nine criteria was split into two or three subcriteria—26 sub-items in total, each with its own point scale. Under “costumes,” for example, theme fit and execution quality are scored separately; under “bateria,” rhythmic precision and the combined sound of the instruments are scored separately.
Who judges, and how
In 2026 each of the nine criteria had six judges—54 people in all. Not every score enters the final tally: some judging booths are drawn by lot, and among the remaining scores the lowest mark for each criterion is discarded. That leaves 36 of the 54 scores in the count. The rule was introduced to reduce the effect of a single biased judge on the result.
Judges are choreographers, costume masters, percussion specialists, and Carnival veterans approved by the league. During a performance each judge must stay in their booth and score only their own criterion, without reacting to the crowd or the commentators.
Apuração — the public score count.
The final tally (apuração) takes place at Cidade do Samba on the day after the parades, on Ash Wednesday. It is an open public event: the commission opens the envelopes and reads the scores for each criterion and each school. If two schools finish with the same total, the order of criteria used to break the tie is announced in advance on apuração day—usually the last criterion read decides the outcome.
The six highest-scoring schools return to the Sambadrome a week later for the Champions’ Parade. The lowest school in Grupo Especial drops to Série Ouro for the following year, and the Série Ouro winner takes its place.
Why schools put so much into it
For the neighborhood or community around a school, the parade is a way to keep cultural identity visible and to claim a place on a national stage. For sponsors, a win means more attention and contracts that are easier to renew the next year. For the city, Carnival is revenue: according to Brazil’s National Confederation of Trade, Carnival 2025 brought the country’s economy about R$12 billion—its strongest result since 2015.
How a visitor can join a parade
To walk the Sambadrome with a school, you buy a costume from one of the “commercial” alas—wings open for sale to anyone. Prices vary widely by school and role: in Rio, joining a Grupo Especial school usually costs R$4,000–10,000 for the costume. Less famous schools, especially in the lower divisions, sometimes sell wings at cost—from a few hundred reais—without a brand markup.
Costumes for the current season are usually sold out two to three months before Carnival. You can buy them directly through the school’s website or social pages from around October. Roles in the drum section, among flag bearers, and in choreographed wings do not require a purchased costume at all—those spots are filled through skill and rehearsal attendance—but that is ongoing school membership, not a one-off visitor experience.
What to remember
If you only want to watch, Grupo Especial stand tickets run from a couple of hundred to several thousand reais depending on the section and how close you are to the judging booths; Série Ouro seats are cheaper, from about R$15–40. If you want to walk the runway yourself, look for a commercial ala on the school’s official pages from October and budget for the costume early: for major Rio schools the price starts in the thousands of reais, not a token amount. Judging is strict enough that a small slip—a broken drum rhythm or a gap between wings—can cost points across several criteria at once, which is why apuração is worth following even if you only watched from the stands.