Grande Rio and Mancha Verde are Carnival champions

Grande Rio is the champion of the Rio Carnival for the first time in its history. Its theme was a tribute to Exu – one of the saints of Candomblé, a religion of African origin.

Thousands of fans have celebrated the victory of the samba school founded over two decades ago.

Mancha Verde is the champion with the theme Water Planet, praising Iemanjá – the Queen of the Seas – Rovena Rosa/Agência Brasil

São Paulo

And the winning samba school in São Paulo has also paid a tribute to Candomble. Mancha Verde is the champion with the theme Water Planet, praising Iemanjá – the Queen of the Seas.

The results of the championship were released on Tuesday (April 26) in the sambadromes of each city. The top six schools will parade again next Saturday (April 30).

The samba school parades this year in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo took place last week. The original festivities, which were to be held between the last week of February and the first of March, had to be canceled due to the pandemic.