and the bateria, the huge drum section whose rhythm powers the entire school - this is where the rainha da bateria, the  queen of the school, dances for the crowds.

uniting all of the above into an incredible parade of colors and sounds, are the performers, members of the school who take center stage to sing the samba enredo for the public.

in the parade section, we explain all elements of a parade, and the criteria used to determine the winners.

over two days of parades, each school will take 80 minutes to run their routine for the hundreds of thousands of spectators, everyone hoping to draw the eyes of the judges and be crowned the winner.