Carnival is the largest popular festival in Brazil, and the most extravagant celebration takes place in Rio de Janeiro, where, since the 1930s, the parades, pageants, and costume balls go on for four days, all accompanied by the distinctive rhythm of the samba. The whole city is decorated with colored lights and streamers, and impromptu bands play on every street corner. The high point of the Carioca (as the natives of Rio are known) Carnival is the parade of the samba schools (Escola de Samba), which begins on Carnival Sunday and ends about midday on Monday. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary