Rio’s 2026 Street Carnival Kicks Off With 4,000-Plus Police and New Tech for Downtown Megablocos

Overview

• The festival runs from January 17 to February 22 with 462 authorized street parades citywide and an estimated R$ 5.7 billion economic impact.
• The city center will host 135 parades, including the Circuito Preta Gil’s ten megablocos that are expected to draw crowds ranging from about 50,000 to 700,000.
• Headliners on the downtown circuit include Cordão da Bola Preta, Fervo da Lud (Ludmilla) and Bloco da Anitta, while Cordão do Boitatá joins the megablocos celebrating 30 years without using a trio elétrico.
• The Military Police will deploy more than 4,000 officers with about 500 vehicles and aerial monitoring, reinforced by over 1,100 municipal agents and checkpoints that bar glass bottles and cutting objects on Rua Primeiro de Março.
• Units covering the Circuito Preta Gil will use vehicle-mounted cameras integrated with facial recognition, while seven pre-hospital posts—two on the circuit—open as women’s support teams respond to last year’s reported 275% rise in harassment cases.