for visitors, dancing and parading with a samba school means that the person will be costumed by the school and placed within a given wing of the schools themed procession - the schools welcome outsiders into their processions with open arms, partially because the buying of costumes helps finance much of their processions, and also because cariocas are world renowned for their friendly nature.

outside participants are required to learn the samba theme of their samba school, and buy their costume - costumes can cary in prices and depending on their purpose such as a ground wing outfit or an amazing float costumes.

costumes that are sold to outside participants are not kept secret, and can be seen on drawings posted on the websites of individual samba schools - these fantasias, are standardized all the way to the shoes, and no detail is left to chance.