Rio Carnival: Day 3 of samba school parades and block parties

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Millions of revelers are on the streets of Rio de Janiero - taking a break from Brazil's political and economic troubles. It's Carnival time - and the city revs-up the excitement with its famous Samba school parade. CGTN's Lucrecia Franco reports.

Rio is packed with revelers. An estimated six million people dancing and partying in the streets, according to officials. To protect the crowd, security has been beefed up with 17-thousand police on patrol.

And while Rio's Carnival is known mostly for its extravagant Sambadrome Parade, more than 450 street bands, known as blocks, are also marching in neighborhoods throughout the city drawing throngs of people.

Some are celebrating the party itself, others are using the opportunity to point out corruption and gender inequality. Rio's mayor, Marcelo Crivella, is also a target. He slashed funding by half to Rio's top samba schools, saying that money is tight.

One of the samba schools affected by the budget cuts is Imperio Serrano, which will be the first school parading in the top tier event. We took a sneak peek at the school's preparations and they showed us that, despite budget cutbacks, they had still managed a promising level of colorful costumes, choreography and visuals.

So, while Rio's top samba schools are working around the clock for the big day, most people here in Rio are on holiday, partying and forgetting about their everyday troubles. Lucrecia Franco, CGTN, Rio.