Portela won Rio de Janeiro’s 2017 championship, ending a 33-year title drought.
The victory was especially significant because Portela had last won the Special Group title in 1984. Its 2017 parade, titled “Quem Nunca Sentiu o Corpo Arrepiar ao Ver Esse Rio Passar,” celebrated rivers and their importance to life, history, and culture.
Portela is one of Rio’s oldest and most decorated samba schools. Its blue-and-white colors, golden-eagle symbol, and Oswaldo Cruz community base are central parts of its identity.
The result is sometimes confused with Portela’s earlier record-setting championship history. The school had accumulated many titles before the long gap, but 2017 was the year that restored it to the top after more than three decades without a championship.