Rio Finalizes 2026 Street Carnival Plan for 6 Million Participants

Overview

• Street festivities run January 17 to February 22 with about 460–462 blocos across the city, including 135 in Centro that account for nearly 30% of cortejos.
• Riotur estimates the street Carnival will inject more than R$5.7 billion into Rio’s economy.
• More than 1,100 municipal order and guard agents will work with the Military Police, with bag checks at Circuito Preta Gil on Rua Primeiro de Março to block glass and sharp objects.
• The health department will operate seven pre-hospital posts, including two on the downtown circuit, and warns about dehydration, alcohol excess, burns and missed regular medications.
• Support infrastructure includes roughly 34,000 toilet positions, extensive barriers and 70 guard vehicles, while megablocos list draws such as Cordão da Bola Preta (~700,000 expected), Ludmilla (600,000) and Anitta (100,000), all starting at 7 a.m.