The origins of the Rio Carnival celebration dates back to the 16th and 17th centuries. Carnival was brought to Brazil by Portuguese colonizers between the 16th and 17th centuries, manifesting itself initially through the 'Entrudo', a popular festival where public games and lighthearted mockery would run wild in the streets. Over time, the festival acquired other ways of manifesting itself, such as in the use of masks and costumes. O Moleque by Lima Barreto, depicts an emergence of costume which was originally used in Carnival, tracing back to the European cultural roots. The costumes are symbolic of political and cultural themes of the time, which are then integrated into Carnival.[1] In the female costume as pictured below, "a typical performer of Samba dance", "The female body becomes a site where male fantasies of the perfect male body, classical, closed, whole and wholesome, clean, clearly separated from the outside are staged. The denigrated nature of the female body is placed on a pedestal, where there is little room to move without falling: `the female nude can thus be understood as a means of containing femininity and female sexuality’.”[2]The emergence of carnival societies created by the monarch elite also contributed to the popularization of the party among the poor.

In 1840, the very first Rio masquerade took place, and polka and waltz took center stage.[3] Later in the beginning of the 20th century the Samba and Batucada rhythms classically associated with Rio carnival were introduced by afro-brazilians and pardos, by adapting different cultural inputs to produce a new musical genre. During this period, Carnival assumed its position as the biggest popular festival in Brazil.

In the 1920's and 1930's in Rio, Samba schools were beginning to become popular as a way for blocos to increase their legitimacy and avert police oppression. Blacks at the time were often oppressed by the police for any street Carnival activities due to the city's attempt to become a European-style capital at this time.[4]

There was no carnival in 1915–18 (due to World War I) or 1940–45 (due to World War II). Once more it was canceled with strict warnings against clandestine celebrations in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil and was postponed in 2022 for similar reasons. It returned in 2023.[5]