Rio Carnival is the biggest party on the planet, and your phone is the thing most likely to go home without you. The street parties, the blocos, pack hundreds of thousands of people into a few streets, and pickpockets work those crowds every year. During Carnival 2026, Rio police went undercover in costumes at a street party in Santa Teresa to catch phone thieves, and found five phones on the two people they arrested. You still need data for every hour of it. Maps to find the right bloco, ride-hailing to get home, the group chat that finds your friends and the photos you came for all run on mobile data, and there is no Wi-Fi in the middle of a street party. This guide covers the Carnival 2027 dates, how much data to buy for a long weekend or the whole week, the carnival-phone setup that keeps your real phone safe, what to do if a phone goes missing, the plans that cost travellers more than they should, and the right eSIM if the trip adds Salvador, São Paulo or Argentina.
Carnival 2027 at a glance: the dates that matter
Carnival always ends on Ash Wednesday, which falls on 10 February in 2027. The Sambadrome parades run over the five nights before it, and the city's street parties fill the weeks around them.
The Sambadrome is a 700-metre parade avenue designed by Oscar Niemeyer, with stands for around 70,000 people a night. The top samba schools of the Grupo Especial parade on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, and the six best return for the Champions Parade the following Saturday.
The street carnival is bigger still. For 2026, the city authorised 462 blocos, from small neighbourhood parties to megablocos that fill the city centre, and expected millions of people on the streets. Many blocos start parading weeks before Carnival weekend, so a January trip catches the party too.
- Série Ouro parades: Friday 5 and Saturday 6 February 2027
- Grupo Especial parades: Sunday 7 to Tuesday 9 February
- Ash Wednesday, the official end: 10 February
- Champions Parade: Saturday 13 February
- Street blocos: from the weeks before Carnival until after it
Why your phone is the thing to protect at Carnival
At Carnival your phone does everything. It holds your map, your ride home, your tickets, your group chat, your bank and your photos. That is exactly why it is the thing thieves want, and why a dense, dancing crowd is where they look for it.
Phone theft at the blocos is common enough that the police run dedicated operations against it every year, and Brazil's federal government runs a program that blocks stolen phones. The crowds are the point of Carnival, so the answer is not to stay away. It is to decide in advance which phone goes into the crowd and what is on it.
There is also a connection problem. When hundreds of thousands of people are in a few streets, all reaching for the same cell towers, mobile data slows down for everyone. A plan with enough data for the week does not change that, but arriving with everything set up means you are not trying to install an eSIM or find a SIM shop in the middle of it.
- Your phone holds your map, rides, tickets, bank and photos
- Dense street crowds are where phones go missing
- Decide before you go which phone joins the crowd
- Networks slow down in big crowds, so set everything up before
The carnival phone: a second phone with its own eSIM
The setup experienced carnival travellers use is simple: take a second, cheaper phone to the blocos, and leave your main phone in the hotel safe. An old phone from a drawer works, as long as it supports eSIM and is unlocked.
Give the carnival phone its own Brazil eSIM. Our eSIM is data only, with no phone number, so if someone takes the carnival phone they get no bank text messages, no access to your home number and no way into your accounts. Install your maps, a ride-hailing app and WhatsApp on it, and leave your banking apps off.
It costs very little. In Brazil, our 7-day 1 GB plan costs about half our 30-day 3 GB plan, and from 3 GB up, data in Brazil costs less than in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru or Uruguay. That is a small price for knowing the phone with your life on it is locked away while you dance.
Your main phone gets its own Brazil eSIM for the rest of the trip: the beach, the city, the restaurants and the days between parades, when it is safer to carry it.
- Carnival phone: an old unlocked phone that supports eSIM
- Its own Brazil eSIM, data only, with no phone number
- Maps, ride-hailing and WhatsApp on it, banking apps off
- Main phone stays in the hotel safe on street-party days
- A 7-day 1 GB plan is enough for the carnival phone
Only taking one phone? Set it up before you leave home
If you only have one phone, a few settings make a stolen phone far less damaging. Turn on your phone's theft protection: Stolen Device Protection on iPhone, theft protection on Android. Both make it much harder for someone to change your passwords or switch off tracking.
Set a PIN on your home SIM card, so that a thief cannot put it into another phone and receive your bank codes. Back up your photos every night on hotel Wi-Fi, and carry the phone in a zipped inner pocket or a pouch under your clothes rather than a back pocket or your hand.
Know what happens to the eSIM itself. An eSIM is installed once, on one phone. If the phone is stolen, the eSIM goes with it, and it cannot be installed on a different phone. The fix is quick: buy a new Brazil eSIM on whatever phone you have next and you are back online in minutes. Keep your order email and your Lumbus login somewhere you can reach from another device.
- Turn on Stolen Device Protection or Android theft protection
- Set a PIN on your home SIM card
- Back up photos every night on hotel Wi-Fi
- Carry the phone in a zipped inner pocket, never in your hand
- If the phone is stolen, buy a new eSIM on your next phone
How much data you need for Carnival
Carnival uses more data than a normal city break. You film parades, send videos to friends, check maps every few minutes and book rides at 3 in the morning, and you are rarely near Wi-Fi.
For a long Carnival weekend, our 30-day 3 GB plan is plenty for maps, messages and some photos. For the whole Carnival week, 5 GB gives room for the parades and everything between them. If you film every parade and post as you go, choose 10 GB. The carnival phone, used only on street-party days, needs just the 7-day 1 GB plan.
When in doubt, buy the smaller size. Every Brazil plan from 1 GB to 20 GB takes top-ups, so if the data runs short before the Champions Parade, you add more to the eSIM already on your phone and carry on. Upload long videos later on hotel Wi-Fi and the week goes much further.
- Long Carnival weekend: 3 GB
- The whole Carnival week: 5 GB
- Filming and posting every parade: 10 GB
- The carnival phone, street-party days only: 1 GB for 7 days
Three buys to skip on a Carnival trip
Three purchases look sensible for Carnival and cost more than the right one.
The first is unlimited. In Brazil, three days of our unlimited plan cost more than twice our 30-day 3 GB plan, and a week of unlimited costs about three times the 30-day 5 GB plan. Unless you stream for hours every day, buy a fixed amount and add a top-up later if the week turns out busier.
The second is the one-day plan. Our 2 GB one-day plan costs about three quarters of the 30-day 3 GB plan, and our 5 GB one-day plan costs more than four fifths of the 30-day 5 GB plan. Neither can be topped up, and both end after a single day.
The third is a global or regional plan for a trip that stays in Brazil. A global plan with 3 GB costs nearly three times a Brazil plan of the same size, or more. A plan named after the whole world only makes sense if the trip really covers it.
- Unlimited: a week costs about three times the 30-day 5 GB plan
- The one-day plans: most of the price of a 30-day plan, with no top-up
- A global plan: nearly three times a Brazil plan of the same size
- The right buy for most travellers: a Brazil plan, sized for the stay
Why not buy a local SIM at the airport?
Brazilian prepaid lines are normally registered with a CPF, the Brazilian tax number, which visitors do not have. Some carriers let visitors register with a passport instead, but that means finding the right store, queuing and hoping the staff know the process, on the day you land for Carnival.
An eSIM avoids all of that. You buy and install it at home on Wi-Fi, switch it on when you land, and your home SIM stays in the phone for calls and texts. There is nothing to swap, nothing to lose and nothing to register at a counter.
- Local prepaid lines are normally registered with a CPF
- Passport registration means a store visit and a queue
- An eSIM is installed at home and switched on at landing
- Your home SIM stays in the phone for calls and texts
Salvador, São Paulo and Recife: one eSIM for every Carnival in Brazil
Rio is the most famous Carnival in Brazil, not the only one. Salvador's street carnival follows the trios elétricos, trucks carrying bands and sound systems through the crowds. Recife and neighbouring Olinda have their own street traditions, and São Paulo has its own Sambadrome parades and street blocos.
One Brazil eSIM covers all of them. Fly from Rio to Salvador for the second half of the week and your data comes with you, with no new eSIM to buy. The same safety advice applies everywhere: the bigger the crowd, the stronger the case for the carnival phone.
- One Brazil eSIM works in Rio, Salvador, São Paulo, Recife and Olinda
- Internal flights do not need a new eSIM
- Every big street carnival is a carnival-phone crowd
Adding Argentina or another country after Carnival
Many travellers add a second country: Iguazu Falls from the Argentine side, a few days in Buenos Aires, or a trip on to Uruguay. A Brazil plan does not work outside Brazil, so you need something for the next country too.
The obvious answer is our six-country South America plan, which covers Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay. It is convenient, but it is not the cheapest. For the same total data, a Brazil plan plus a plan for the second country costs less at every size we checked. A Brazil 5 GB plan plus a 7-day 1 GB plan for Argentina, enough for an Iguazu side trip, gives you more data than the 5 GB South America plan and costs less.
Both eSIMs can sit on the same phone. Switch the data line when you cross the border, and switch it back if you return to Brazil.
- A Brazil plan works only in Brazil
- Two country plans cost less than the regional plan for the same data
- Iguazu side trip: Brazil plan plus a 7-day 1 GB Argentina plan
- Both eSIMs live on one phone: switch lines at the border
Carnival groups, tour operators and travel agencies
Carnival is a group trip for many people: friends booking a house together, tour groups with Sambadrome tickets, and companies taking teams to the parades. If you are buying eSIMs for ten people or a hundred, we price the whole group in one quote and bill it once, and each person receives an eSIM by email.
If you run a travel agency or sell Carnival packages, our affiliate program pays 12% on every eSIM your travellers buy through your link or discount code, and your travellers get a discount too.
- Groups: one quote, one invoice, an eSIM for every traveller
- Travel agencies and Carnival tour operators: 12% on every eSIM through the affiliate program
- Your travellers get a discount with your code
Ten minutes at home that make you Carnival-ready
Ten minutes on the sofa before the flight saves an hour of trouble in Rio.
- Check your phone, and your carnival phone, support eSIM and are unlocked
- Buy a Brazil eSIM for each phone, sized for your stay
- Install both on home Wi-Fi, with the new lines off until landing
- Turn on theft protection and set a PIN on your home SIM
- Download an offline map of Rio and the bloco schedule
- After landing, turn on the eSIM line and allow it to roam
- Pick a fixed spot where your friends regroup if a phone dies or disappears
Frequently asked questions
What is the best eSIM for Rio Carnival 2027?
A Brazil eSIM sized for your stay: 3 GB for a long weekend, 5 GB for the whole Carnival week, or 10 GB if you film and post every parade. If the data runs short, plans from 1 GB to 20 GB take a top-up on the eSIM you already have.
When is Rio Carnival 2027?
The Sambadrome parades run from Friday 5 February to Tuesday 9 February 2027, Carnival officially ends on Ash Wednesday, 10 February, and the Champions Parade is on Saturday 13 February. Street blocos start in the weeks before and carry on after.
Should I take a second phone to Carnival?
If you have an old unlocked phone that supports eSIM, yes. Put its own Brazil eSIM on it, use it at the street parties and leave your main phone in the hotel safe. A 7-day 1 GB plan is enough for the carnival phone.
My phone was stolen at a bloco. What happens to my eSIM?
The eSIM leaves with the phone and cannot be installed on a different one. Buy a new Brazil eSIM on your next phone to get back online in minutes, and contact us with your order email about the old one. Because our eSIM is data only, a thief gets no phone number and no bank text messages from it.
Can I keep using WhatsApp on my own number?
Yes. WhatsApp stays linked to your home number, and the Brazil eSIM only carries the data. Keep your home line switched on for calls and texts, with mobile data set to the eSIM.
Does the Brazil eSIM give me a Brazilian phone number?
No. It is data only. You can still call and message over WhatsApp and other apps, and your home number keeps working for texts on a second line.
When should I install the eSIM?
At home, a few days before you fly, on Wi-Fi. Keep the line off until you land. The days on the plan count from its first connection in Brazil, not from the install.
Will my data work in the Sambadrome and at the blocos?
Yes, the Brazil eSIM works across Rio. In very large crowds every network slows down, so download your tickets, map and anything else you need before you head out.
Do I need a CPF to use a Brazil eSIM?
No. Local prepaid lines are normally registered with a CPF, the Brazilian tax number. Our eSIM is bought online and installed at home, with nothing to register in Brazil.
Does the same eSIM work in Salvador or São Paulo?
Yes. One Brazil eSIM works across the country, so you can follow Carnival from Rio to Salvador, São Paulo, Recife or Olinda without buying a new one.
Is an unlimited plan worth it for Carnival?
Rarely. In Brazil, a week of our unlimited plan costs about three times the 30-day 5 GB plan. Almost every traveller pays much less with a fixed amount of data and a top-up if needed.
What if my trip also includes Argentina?
Add a plan for Argentina next to your Brazil plan. For the same total data, two country plans cost less than our six-country South America plan, and both eSIMs can sit on the same phone.
Can I buy eSIMs for my whole Carnival group?
Yes. Request a group quote and we reply with pricing for the group, one invoice and an eSIM emailed to every traveller. Travel agencies can join our affiliate program and earn 12% on every eSIM their travellers buy.