São Paulo's carnival competition episode artwork

EPISODE · May 27, 2026 · 32 MIN

São Paulo's carnival competition

from The Documentary Podcast · host BBC World Service

Every year during Brazil’s carnival celebrations, samba schools are tasked with creating elaborate parades based around a unique theme, from which they build huge floats, compose a song, and choreograph an entire visual spectacle. Tom Raine follows one of São Paulo’s oldest samba schools, Águia de Ouro, in the final stages of creating their carnival parade for their most important event of the year - parading in São Paulo’s iconic Sambadrome in the attendance of thousands of people, and millions more watching on TV across Brazil. This year they have chosen a theme titled Amsterdam: City of Liberty, celebrating the cities’ values of freedom, tolerance and modernity. It is not just a celebration but a fierce competition, with rigorous judging and a football-style league system of promotion and relegation. This episode of The Documentary, comes to you from In the Studio, exploring the processes of the world’s most creative people.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published May 27, 2026

Embed this episode

NOW PLAYING

São Paulo's carnival competition

0:00 32:44

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

No similar episodes found.

No similar podcasts found.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of The Documentary Podcast?

This episode is 32 minutes long.

When was this The Documentary Podcast episode published?

This episode was published on May 27, 2026.

Can I download this The Documentary Podcast episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.
URL copied to clipboard!