Tourist Office
Centro Britânico - São Paulo, Brazil

Sambódromo
Teacher: Fernanda Oliveira

The “Pólo Cultural e Esportivo Grande Otelo” is one of the largest places for huge outdoor events in Anhembi, São Paulo. It´s also known as the Sambódromo. There are other different events during the year and you can watch a very popular celebration in Brazil – the Carnival Parade during five days in February or March, according to the annual calendar. 

At the Sambódromo there are ten groups of bleaches along the way of the parade lane. There are places for 26.246 thousand people to sit along the lane with 530 meters long and 14 m width. There are more ten spacious cabins in front of the stage, with a great view.
The Anhembi parking lot is the biggest in Latin América. There is a space for 7.5 thousand vehicles.

Curiosities
In 2003 the parade lane was called “Passarela Adoniram Barbosa” in tribute to the best sambista in São Paulo 

The Samba Schools
There are many Samba Schools in São Paulo. They always work during the year to present a beautiful Carnival. In each school there are many participants and they have strict rules to follow to be a partner of the school.
As the parade lasts fifty-five minutes the participants have medical exams to enroll and they are not allowed to be absent more than twice in the rehearsal period during all the year.
A Carnival costume costs from R$500 to R$1000 ( around $225 dollars to 500 dollars). The participants pay their costumes along the year.

The carnival is a showtime. It joins poor and rich people, celebrities and communities. It’s a wonderful experience: you can see everybody dancing and singing during this enjoyable ceremony, the Carnival in the Sambódromo.  

(This project, the Sambódromo, was done with the following Teens 2 students: Bruna Fraccaroli, Bruna Mattos, Cahue Roland, Fernanda Tsunematsu, Fernando Barbosa, Gabriel Alvarez, Gabriela Bellotto, Larissa Ochiai, Samanta Dias, Victoria Campos and Viviane Ligori and the teacher Fernanda Oliveira from Centro Britânico/ Pompéia Branch).