All there is to know about Carnival from our man in the know.

Despite the name, a Samba School is not an actual school. A samba school's official title is a "recreational guild". In many ways a samba school is quite similar to the British working men's clubs.

Samba schools are mainly based in and around the poor areas of housing in Rio de Janeiro, where the local community uses the school's headquarters as the hub for its social activities. As well as samba shows, it will offer other forms of entertainment during the year and will have a bar and restaurant, and might even have a school attached or a creche and sports club.

Just as everyone in Brazil has a favourite football team that they support, Brazilians will also have a favourite samba school that they will follow passionately and support. And just with football, there are various divisions within the world of Rio's samba schools and each year some will be promoted and some will be relegated.

The top division (Grupo Especial) parades on the Sunday and Monday nights of carnival at Rio's Sambódromo. In a normal year, six school will parade each night, but due to a fire at one of the schools in 2011, 13 schools will take part in the top division in 2012 with two to be relegated to the second division in 2013, with only the winner of the Grupo de Acesso to be promoted.

The order of the main samba school parades for 2012 is:

Sunday 19 February from 21.00

Renascer de Jacarepaguá
Portela
Imperatriz Leopoldinense
Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel
Porto da Pedra,
Beija-Flor de Nilópolis
Unidos de Vila Isabel

Monday 20 February from 21.00

São Clemente
União da Ilha
Acadêmicos do Salgueiro
Estação Primeira de Mangueira
Unidos da Tijuca
Grande Rio.

The winner in 2011 was Beija-Flor, with Unidos da Tijuca in second and Mangueira in third.

Every school tells a story, and every school has a theme. Among the top Rio samba schools one of the most notable in 2012 will be União da Ilha that is looking at the relationship between London and Rio with a samba that begins "Once upon a time..."

Imperatriz will look at the state of Bahia and the writer Jorge Amado; Mocidade is inspired in 2012 by the works of the painter Candido Portinari; Renascer de Jacarepaguá by the sculptor and artist Romero Britto; São Clemente promises a "musical adventure", while Angola is the source of inspiration for Vila Isabel. Unidos da Tijuca spotlights the life of musician Luiz Gonzaga; Mangueira is celebrating 50 years of its carnival bloco, Cacique de Ramos; Salgueiro looks at the popular literature of Cordel; and Grande Rio looks back at the fire that nearly destroyed the school last year.

Last year's winning school, Beija-Flor de Nilópolis, has taken the legends and folklore of São Luís and the state of Maranhão as the inspiration for the theme of its samba this year.

Chris Pickard