Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1
recommended on weekends, when queues are long.
Wed-Sat 9.30pm-late.
Teatro Odisséia
Av Mem de Sá
T
21 2266 1014;
M
Cinelândia; map pp.62-63.
In an old theatre, featuring
an eclectic mix of recorded and live Brazilian sounds from
rock to samba.
Wed-Sat 11pm-late.
Estudantina
Praça Tiradentes 79, Centro
T
21 2507 8067,
W
estudantinamusical.com.br;
M
Uruguaiana; map pp.62-63.
A venerable old
gafieira
whose decor recalls its roots dating back to 1928. Attracting
locals and visitors of all ages, the live bands keep up to
1500 dancers moving.
Thurs-Sat 9pm-4am.
Gafieira Elite
Rua Frei Caneca 4, Centro
T
21 2232 3217,
W
gafieiraelite.xpg.com.br;
M
Central; map pp.62-63.
Smaller and more traditional in style than most
gafieiras
(with less modern music and dancers wearing formal attire),
this one is hidden away behind the arches of a pretty pink
nineteenth-century building.
Fri-Sun 10pm-3am or later.
★
★
ELSEWHERE
Bip Bip
Rua Almirante Gonçalves 50d, Copacabana
T
21 2267 9696;
M
Cantagalo; map p.81.
It's just a tiny
botequim
(little bar), but it has a huge reputation for
samba, wth customers taking over the surrounding streets.
They play samba on Thursday, Friday & Saturday (Wed is
bossa nova), but the big night is Sunday, when famous old-
timers often perform.
Daily 7pm-1am.
Cais do Oriente
Rua Visconde de Itaboraí 8, Centro
T
21 2203 0178,
W
caisdooriente.com.br;
M
Uruguaiana;
map pp.62-63.
A sprawling, late nineteenth-century
mansion that's both a spectacularly stylish (though not very
good) restaurant and on some evenings a jazz club with a
beautiful open patio.
Tues-Sat noon-midnight.
Citibank Hall
Av Ayrton Senna 3000, Barra da Tijuca
T
0300 789 6846,
W
citibankhall.com.br; map p.58.
The
largest music venue in Rio, attracting Brazilian and
international stars; programmes and tickets are available at
W
ticketmaster.com.br - expect to pay upwards of R$100.
The Maze
Rua Tavares Bastos 414, Casa 66, Catete
T
21 2558 5547,
W
jazzrio.com;
M
Catete; map p.75.
If
you can, do try to coincide with the jazz evenings held in
this
pousada
(see p.94) on the first Friday of each month in
an unusual venue with spectacular views across Rio. Run by
a British jazz enthusiast and attracting solid local
performers, there's now also a smaller rock night on the
following Friday showcasing interesting local talent.
1st
and 2nd Friday of the month 10pm-4am.
Vinicius
Rua Vinicius de Morães 39, Ipanema
T
21 2287 1497,
W
viniciusbar.com.br;
M
Ipanema/
General Osório; map pp.76-77.
A tourist-oriented
upstairs bar that hosts first-rate artists, mostly playing pure
Bossa Nova.
See website for programme.
ENTERTAINMENT
CINEMAS
Most European and American films are quickly released in
Brazil and play with their original soundtracks. Cinemas are
quite inexpensive (R$15-25), with
Jornal do Brasil
and the
Rio supplement of the weekly magazine
Veja
listing what's
on and where.
Film festival
Rio hosts one of Latin America's most
important international film festivals, the Festival do Rio
(
T
21 2543 4968,
W
www.festivaldorio.com.br), which
takes place over two weeks in late September and early
October and screens over four hundred films from dozens of
countries in cinemas all over the city.
ROCK IN RIO
The Rock in Rio festival (
W
rockinrio.com), born in Rio but
not exclusive to the city, claims to be the biggest music
festival in the world, attracting millions of fans and some
of the very top names in rock music. Though it started
way back in 1985, it has only been an annual event since
2010. The festival sometimes migrates to Lisbon or
Madrid, but Rio was its original home, and it will be held
here in 2015, and probably in 2017 as well. Its Rio venue,
the Cidade do Rock in Barra da Tijuca, was built
specifically for the festival.
CARNAVAL
Carnaval is celebrated in every Brazilian city, but Rio's party is the biggest and flashiest of them all. From the Friday before Lent
to the following Tuesday (Shrove Tuesday, the last day before Lent, better known by its French name, Mardi Gras), the city shuts
up shop and throws itself into the world's most famous manifestation of unbridled hedonism. Carnaval's greatest quality is that
it has never become stale, thanks to its status as the most important celebration on the Brazilian calendar, easily outstripping
Christmas and Easter. In a city riven by poverty, Carnaval represents a moment of freedom and release. And at the end of the
very intense long weekend, there's a brief collective hangover before attention turns to preparing for the following year's event.
INFORMATION
See
W
rio-carnival.net for a complete schedule of events.
Carnaval dates for the next few years are listed in our Basics
section (see p.43).
THE PARADES
Rio's purpose-built parade ground, the Sambódromo (Rua
Marquês de Sapucaí,
M
Praça Onze), is the scene of all-
night parades (
desfiles
) by the Samba schools - this is the
most formal part of the Carnaval, and is ticketed. The
