A Dali-style homage to Rio ahead of the city's 450th birthday, parachutists landing on the piste and a polemic on the funding of an elite samba school paying tribute to Africa marked Monday's carnival parade.
There were highlights aplenty as some 30,000 participants from the final six elite schools strutted down the Sapucai Avenue at a Sambadrome packed with 72,000 flagwaving and gyrating people of all ages.
Unlike Saturday, the weather did not rain on the parade.
The world's largest party, which organizers hope will attract some five million people over five days before officially winding down Tuesday night with a mass of street parties known as blocos.
The Portela samba school, a carnival institution with a record 21 titles, set the tone.
Their routine pledged to "imagine Rio, 450 Januaries in a surreal city," marking the upcoming March 1 birthday bash with a surrealist-style look at the former capital in the outlandish style of Salvador Dali.
A controversial note came earlier when rival school Beija-Flor denied a media report it was being bankrolled to the tune of some $5 million by the president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema.
The press service for Beija-flor, whose theme this year is a "strong, joyful and colorful" Africa, told AFP they had received merely "cultural support and imported fabrics" from Equatorial Guinea.
Globo television quoted Beija-Flor president Farid Abraao as having personally denied the story.
Obiang Nguema -- who, along with his son, is facing allegations of money laundering and corruption -- holds an iron grip over tiny, oil-rich Equatorial Guinea in central Africa.
Globo reported that his son Teodorin had reserved the seven most expensive suites at the plush Copacabana Palace hotel, where he attended a Sunday ball, "unsmiling ... and surrounded by his security detail."
- Skydivers' make an entrance -
Wednesday night will see the winning samba school crowned as successor to last year's grand champions Unidos de Tijuca.
Before Portela's entrance, four skydivers entered the arena, two Brazilian and two Americans, including Californian KT Hansen, landing on the 720-meter (yard) piste.
Although the massive overnight elite samba parades lasting til dawn mark the highpoint of the event, Rio is also jammed by day and into the small hours with dozens of street parties attracting anything from a few hundred to hundreds of thousands of revelers.
One street band Sargento Pimenta -- Sergeant Pepper in Portuguese -- has become a favorite attraction in recent years, last year attracting more than 100,000 people to the Flamengo district with their carnival "marchinha" or march infusing hours of Beatles favorites with a raucous samba touch.
This year, they topped that as media reports suggested more than 115,000 people showed for a show kicking off with "A Hard Day's Night."
Last year saw "John Lennon" and "Yoko Ono" make an appearance to add to the Beatles fun -- which includes a conga-style dance with participants dancing covered in a fabric "yellow submarine."
This year, however, Daniel Gnattali, who dresses for the occasion as a convincing Lennon, was shorn of his real life paramour, actress Lian Tai, currently visiting the Beatles' old haunt of India.
"She's my real-life partner and can't be just substituted. She would feel disrespected -- for me she's Yoko," Gnattali told AFP.
In nearby Laranjeiras district, a mainly youthful crowd including hundreds of young children also congregated, many wearing fancy dress, to dance and squirt each other with foam.
Wild celebrations, meanwhile, continued in cities across Brazil including business hub Sao Paulo and the northeastern UNESCO heritage town of Olinda.
A Dali-style homage to Rio ahead of the city’s 450th birthday, parachutists landing on the piste and a polemic on the funding of an elite samba school paying tribute to Africa marked Monday’s carnival parade.
There were highlights aplenty as some 30,000 participants from the final six elite schools strutted down the Sapucai Avenue at a Sambadrome packed with 72,000 flagwaving and gyrating people of all ages.
Unlike Saturday, the weather did not rain on the parade.
The world’s largest party, which organizers hope will attract some five million people over five days before officially winding down Tuesday night with a mass of street parties known as blocos.
The Portela samba school, a carnival institution with a record 21 titles, set the tone.
Their routine pledged to “imagine Rio, 450 Januaries in a surreal city,” marking the upcoming March 1 birthday bash with a surrealist-style look at the former capital in the outlandish style of Salvador Dali.
A controversial note came earlier when rival school Beija-Flor denied a media report it was being bankrolled to the tune of some $5 million by the president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema.
The press service for Beija-flor, whose theme this year is a “strong, joyful and colorful” Africa, told AFP they had received merely “cultural support and imported fabrics” from Equatorial Guinea.
Globo television quoted Beija-Flor president Farid Abraao as having personally denied the story.
Obiang Nguema — who, along with his son, is facing allegations of money laundering and corruption — holds an iron grip over tiny, oil-rich Equatorial Guinea in central Africa.
Globo reported that his son Teodorin had reserved the seven most expensive suites at the plush Copacabana Palace hotel, where he attended a Sunday ball, “unsmiling … and surrounded by his security detail.”
– Skydivers’ make an entrance –
Wednesday night will see the winning samba school crowned as successor to last year’s grand champions Unidos de Tijuca.
Before Portela’s entrance, four skydivers entered the arena, two Brazilian and two Americans, including Californian KT Hansen, landing on the 720-meter (yard) piste.
Although the massive overnight elite samba parades lasting til dawn mark the highpoint of the event, Rio is also jammed by day and into the small hours with dozens of street parties attracting anything from a few hundred to hundreds of thousands of revelers.
One street band Sargento Pimenta — Sergeant Pepper in Portuguese — has become a favorite attraction in recent years, last year attracting more than 100,000 people to the Flamengo district with their carnival “marchinha” or march infusing hours of Beatles favorites with a raucous samba touch.
This year, they topped that as media reports suggested more than 115,000 people showed for a show kicking off with “A Hard Day’s Night.”
Last year saw “John Lennon” and “Yoko Ono” make an appearance to add to the Beatles fun — which includes a conga-style dance with participants dancing covered in a fabric “yellow submarine.”
This year, however, Daniel Gnattali, who dresses for the occasion as a convincing Lennon, was shorn of his real life paramour, actress Lian Tai, currently visiting the Beatles’ old haunt of India.
“She’s my real-life partner and can’t be just substituted. She would feel disrespected — for me she’s Yoko,” Gnattali told AFP.
In nearby Laranjeiras district, a mainly youthful crowd including hundreds of young children also congregated, many wearing fancy dress, to dance and squirt each other with foam.
Wild celebrations, meanwhile, continued in cities across Brazil including business hub Sao Paulo and the northeastern UNESCO heritage town of Olinda.
