What are Rio Carnival’s large parade floats called in Portuguese?

Rio Carnival’s large parade floats are called carros alegóricos in Portuguese.

These decorated vehicles are major visual elements of samba-school presentations. Each float helps express the parade’s enredo, or theme, through sculpture, lighting, color, moving parts, and performers. Their scale can make them among the most technically demanding elements of a school’s production.

A samba school’s parade is not just a procession of floats. It combines the samba-enredo, costumes, choreography, sections known as alas, and the bateria, or percussion ensemble. The carros alegóricos connect those elements into a visual narrative.

The term is sometimes translated as “allegorical cars” or “allegorical floats.” It should not be confused with trios elétricos, the sound trucks associated especially with street Carnival in Bahia.