Technical rehearsals – Ensaios Técnicos in Portuguese - are like the main parade, with the same samba, drummers, the flag bearer and her escort. The costumes and the floats are the only two elements not shown here for obvious reasons.
The technical rehearsals attract an enormous crowd of locals and are really worth taking part of.
It's free. If you have the chance to attend, we recommend you not to miss it. Here’s the official schedule of the technical rehearsals for the 2012 Rio Carnival
| January | ||||
| Date | Day | 7 PM | 8 PM | 9 PM |
| 08 | Sunday | Wash Ceremony | Meet ing of Drums | Beija-Flor |
| 13 | Friday | Imperio Serrano | União da Ilha | |
| 14 | Saturday | Tuiuti | Rocinha | Portela |
| 15 | Sunday | Renascer | Mocidade | Unidos da Tijuca |
| 21 | Saturday | Inocentes de Belford Roxo | Porto da Pedra | |
| 22 | Sunday | Santa Cruz | Grande Rio | Vila Isabel |
| 27 | Friday | Cubango | Imperio da Tijuca | |
| 28 | Saturday | Estácio de Sá | Imperatriz | |
| 29 | Sunday | Viradouro | União da Ilha | Salgueiro |
| February | ||||
| Date | Day | 7 PM | 8 PM | 9 PM |
| 03 | Friday | Vila Isabel | ||
| 4 | Saturday | Renascer | São Clemente | Porto da Pedra |
| 5 | Sunday | Mangueira | Unidos da Tijuca | |
| 10 | Friday | Mocidade | Salgueiro | |
| 11 | Saturday | Portela | Imperatriz | |
| 12 | Sunday | Test of Sound and Lighting with Last Year Champion Beija-Flor | ||

