Rio’s Carnival street parties bring out 4 million revellers (VIDEO)
A reveller of Mangueira samba school performs during the second night of Carnival parades at the Sambódromo in Rio de Janeiro, early on February 21, 2012.
SÃO PAULO, Brazil — Rio's street parties, or blocos in Portuguese, brought out 4 million revellers during Carnival, according to Brazilian news site R7.
"If you imagine more than 4 million people having fun in the streets without any major problems, you have to see this as a success," said Antonio Pedro Figueira de Mello, president of RioTur, the city's tourism board, according to Brazilian news site Terra.
One bloco alone, the Cordão da Bola Preta, broke records when it attracted over 2 million people with its traditional Carnival parade that opened celebrations on Saturday morning, reported Terra. Another popular street party was Sargento Pimenta, a Beatles tribute in its second year that attracted over 60,000 revellers.
More from GlobalPost: Brazilian Beatles tribute takes Carnival by storm
Over the first four days of Carnival, 316 blocos paraded through the streets of Rio de Janeiro. But the festivities aren't over just yet, according to Brazilian news site O Repórter. The parades and parties will last all week, with the popular Monobloco parade wrapping things up on Sunday.
Last year, almost 4.9 million revellers passed through the streets of Rio, reported Terra. This number is expected to easily be surpassed by the time the celebrations end this week.
Here's video that shows how Carnival is a tourist magnet:
