Rio Carnaval Parade -- Photodesk

(ATR) The first major showcase for the 2016 Olympic city was at Carnaval.

Over 100,000 people pack each night into the Sambodrome in Rio de Janeiro to watch the famous samba schools around the city parade down the venue. The main event from the 2016 celebration is the competition parade on Feb. 7-8 featuring 12 of the city's top samba schools. Each school's parade lasts for over an hour and features vibrant floats and colorful costumes set to each school's samba song.

The parades vary in theme, and one school, Uniao da Ilha, performed an Olympic themed parade showcasing Brazilian Olympians and the vibrancy of the city of Rio. Helping lead the parade wasVanderlei Cordeiro de Lima, bronze medalist in the 2004 marathon and recipient of the Pierre de Coubertin medal, carrying a model of the Olympic torch. In addition to the parade, Olympic mascots Vinicius and Tom were present to help open the competition.

The Sambodrome will be showcased during the Games with Olympic archery and marathon taking place in the venue.

Whichever samba school is judged to be the winner of the 2016 will march down the Sambodrome again on Feb. 13 as part of the champions parade.

Carnaval officially runs until Feb. 10, but city-wide celebrations are expected to continue through the weekend.

Click here to view a gallery from the parade.

Written by Aaron Bauer in Rio de Janeiro

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