Carnival Tickets: What to Do with It

Okay, so you got yourself a Carnival ticket. But do you have any idea of what do you have to do now that you have it?

Perhaps you are still not sure on where to go during carnival, what to do and the best way to plan your carnival holiday, so get your act together as the list below will help you figuring it out.

1. Pair them with a good travel package. There are certainly a lot of things that you can do before and after the carnival. In fact, there are plenty of activities waiting for you during the entire festival.

If you still didn`t book your flights and hotels, by getting yourself the package that fits your travel needs and preferences, you can ensure that you can explore Brazil a lot better. Brazil has a lot to offer, such as the northeast beaches, the Amazon, Pantanal, and historical cities. Or, you can also stay in Rio only and take advantage of other freebies, such as airport transfers, and tours to the Christ Statue or Sugar Loaf Mountain.

2. Get into the Sambadrome early. The entire parade is held in the Sambadrome. It was purposefully built in 1984 to accommodate more than 90,000 people who can comfortably watch the floats and, of course, the dancers who will be moving their bodies to the tune of real samba music.

The parade starts at 9:00 p.m., but the gates will be opened to the crowd by 5:00 p.m. Your carnival ticket will get you in, but it will not always guarantee you a seat. If you got a ticket for the Grandstands only the Sector 9, 6 and 13 have numbered seats. The other sectors are not numbered so you can seat where you want and where is available. So if you want to get a good spot where you can watch the samba parade with less distraction and more effective camera angles, you better come to the venue as early as possible, at least 2 hours before the parade.

3. Buy your fare and rent a room in advance. Your carnival tickets can only get you in the parade. You still have to add your airplane tickets and hotel accommodation. If you still don`t have it, what is recommendable is to book that several months before the festival. If you can, do that at least a year before the actual event. There are already plenty of websites with the prices for the Carnival 2011 available, including http://www.brazilbookers.com.

4. Know which show you want to watch. There are actually four parades that you can watch during the festival. The first one is the performances of the access group, on Saturday. These are samba schools that are willing to become part of the special group and perform on the special group in a more serious competition on the other year. Only the winner will get that. If you’re trying to save money, your best option will be to buy carnival tickets for the Access league.

Then you also have the performances of the special group, divided in two nights, Sunday and Monday. Each set will have equal number of performers, 6. These are also the parades that television crews abound and broadcast in several countries all over the world. These are the most expensive tickets. The price is the same for both days.

You can also go cheap on your carnival tickets if you only watch during the awarding ceremony, on the Saturday after the special group parades, when the 6 winners of the Special league will be parading. The price can go as low as 50 percent off and the performances will also be the same as the ones performed during the two consecutive special group parades.

5. Have fun. Bring out your digital or video camera, wear the most comfortable clothes and flip-flops. You can stay on the ground if you want to get much closer to the platforms and see all the details, or stay in the grandstands watch it as whole and feel the heat and happiness of the people. Better yet, you can get a costume and join the dance and ride one of the floats. You have a lot options that can make you feel part of the greatest party in the world, now it`s up to you!