| Carnival 2009 has been officially launched in Rio de | | | | including Jorge Castanheira, carnival major league |
| Janeiro by an event called "parade draw." With many | | | | association "LIESA" president; Bruno Matos, director of |
| schools deciding upon their samba-concept and | | | | events of Riotur; Aloysio Legey, Globo TV Network |
| samba-lyrics, the Rio de Janeiro 2009 Carnival parade | | | | broadcasting director, and Rio de Janeiro State |
| schedule was settled by a draw at the Samba city. | | | | Representative Francisco de Carvalho (Chiquinho da |
| The draw is very important since it defines the | | | | Mangueira ) to name a few. |
| schedule in which the samba schools parade at the | | | | Carnival in Brazil in 2009 starts February 20th, which is |
| Sambadrome, Sunday and Monday Carnival. | | | | a Friday and goes on until Tuesday night, February |
| Presidents of all samba schools that take part of the | | | | 24th. The official Carnival parades in Rio de Janeiro |
| Rio de Janeiro Carnival elite represented their | | | | take place just before the start of Lent. They are held |
| organizations in this happening. | | | | for four consecutive nights, during which schools |
| Parade Schedule for 2009 Rio de Janeiro Carnival | | | | parade one after another from 8pm until the morning. |
| was defined as follows: | | | | The Access Group A samba schools are hosted on |
| Sunday Carnival - February 22nd, 2009 | | | | Saturday, Special Group on Sunday and Monday and |
| 9:00 PM : Império Serrano Samba School 10:00 | | | | Access Group B on Tuesday. The Special Group |
| PM : Grande Rio Samba School 11:10 PM : Vila Isabel | | | | nights are by far the biggest attractions. |
| Samba School 00:15 AM: Mocidade Independente | | | | Each samba school has a preset amount of time (80 |
| Samba School 01:20 AM: Beija-Flor Samba School | | | | minutes) to parade from one end of the Sambadrome |
| 02:25 AM: Unidos da Tijuca Samba School | | | | to the other with all its thousands of dancers, its drum |
| Monday Carnival - February 23nd, 2009 | | | | section, and a number of floats. Each school has its |
| 9:00 PM : Porto da Pedra Samba School 10:00 PM : | | | | own unique qualities according to its own traditions. |
| Salgueiro Samba School 11:10 PM : Imperatriz | | | | Schools are graded by a jury, and the competition is |
| Leopoldinense Samba School 00:15 AM: Portela | | | | ferocious. On Ash Wednesday, grades are gathered |
| Samba School 01:20 AM: Mangueira Samba School | | | | and one school is declared the winner. |
| 02:25 AM: Viradouro Samba School | | | | The Parade of Champions is held the following |
| The Samba Schools have a minimum of 65 minutes | | | | Saturday featuring the five winning samba schools in |
| and maximum of 82 minutes of parading time at the | | | | the Special Group category. |
| Sambadrome. | | | | Some of the Carnival parties and street groups |
| Some of Rio ´s most important Carnival and | | | | however start up one week before the official |
| tourism authorities were also present at the event, | | | | Carnival Dates. |