Carnaval Season with Sambaxé
🎉Parade date: Sunday, May 24
📅Dance rehearsals: Saturdays Feb 7-May 16 @ 11:30am-1pm
📍741 South Van Ness Ave, SF
💃All ages & levels welcome
➡️ Register by Feb 21 for lowest fee!
💵Pay via Venmo
👋You don’t need to understand everything on this page before joining. We’ll guide you step-by-step throughout the season. Join us!
At the start of each year, we begin preparing to impress the crowds & judges in the Carnaval San Francisco Grand Parade. At the largest multicultural festival on the West Coast, the parade is a celebration of Latino, Caribbean and African Diasporic traditions of the Mission District and the San Francisco Bay Area. All levels, ages, gender identities, and backgrounds welcome.
How to join
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Dancers (Adults)
Estimated total cost: $550+
Registration + rehearsals + costume
Work trade scholarships available. -
Dancers (Teens)
Estimated total cost: FREE
For dancers 14-18, registration, rehearsals, and costume are FREE thanks to our 2026 Carnaval Partnership with Youth Art Exchange! -
Baianas Section (Adults)
Estimated total cost: $375+
Registration + costume + FREE Baianas rehearsals
Work trade scholarships available. -
Kid Dancers + Drummers
Estimated total cost: $70+
Registration + costume
$10 per family per Friday drum rehearsal
Scholarships available. -
Spirit Section (All ages)
Estimated total cost: $20-$35
Each Spirit Section member must have a 2026 Sambaxe t-shirt (abadá).
Due to increased tariffs, material costs, labor, and shipping, costume prices have increased by $15-$25 from 2025. We are keeping costume costs as low as possible and we’ll need your help in fundraising to help fill the additional gap.
Registration, costume fees, and used class fees are non-refundable.
Work trade scholarships available on a case-by-case basis. Please contact Raffa (sambaraffa@gmail.com) or Kirsten (sambaxe.kirsten@gmail.com) for details.
Baianas, Spirit Section, and Kid Dancer registrations will open in Spring 2026. Stay tuned!
Registration
Registration fees support costs associated with our group’s participation in the parade, like sound system rental and insurance. NEW in 2026 - you’ll receive a 2026 Sambaxe t-shirt (abadá)! Registration fees are not refundable and are lower if you’re commit sooner. You do not need to be registered to try out a class, but you do need to register if you plan to dance with us in the parade.
Registration:
By Saturday, Feb 21: $100
Sunday, Feb 22 - Saturday March 14: $150
Teen dancers 14-18 through YAX: $0
Stay tuned for Baianas registration information
We want you to feel prepared and to look cohesive as a group, plus dancing together is a great time! We’re asking dancers to commit to attending at least 10 rehearsals. The final 3 weeks leading up to the parade are super important and are considered mandatory.
You do not need to be registered to try out a class. Drop ins are welcome.
Rehearsals
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Saturdays Feb 7 - May 16
11:30am-1pm
Taught by Raffa
$25 per class for paid registrants, $35 for drop ins
Primary location: 741 South Van Ness Ave, SF 94110
Alternate locations for March 7, May 9, May 16 will be announced
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These are classes if you need extra practice and are not required.
You must RSVP in the East Bay Choreo Clinic group chat by 9am the day of class. Class will be cancelled if not enough people RSVP.
Sundays March 8 through May 10, no class March 22, March 29
11:15-12:30pm March 8
11:30am - 12:45pm all other weeks
Location: Shawl Anderson Dance Center- 2704 Alcatraz Ave, Berkeley, CA 94705
Taught by Ann
$15 per class
Carnaval Conditioning Class
This Carnaval season we’re partnering with DarlingFit to offer an optional conditioning class immediately before Saturday rehearsals.
Saturdays 10:30-11:30am, starting March 14th
Same location as dance rehearsals - 741 South Van Ness Ave
Bring a yoga mat and light hand weights
Cost: $20 per class or $150 for 10 classes, payable directly to James on Venmo
RSVP in the Carnaval Conditioning WhatsApp Group. We must have at least 5 attendees each week to take advantage of this private class.
Costume Info
All dancers are responsible for decorating their own headpiece and costume elements. This is a labor of love that will take several hours, but it is how we keep quality high while keeping prices more affordable. We’ll announce dates for costuming workshops, likely starting in April.
Your costume order will be placed only once we have received your registration fee and first costume payment by the deadline. Pay at class or Venmo by the deadline.
Costume designs are kept secret! Join us at rehearsal to see the designs.
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Order + deposit deadline: Feb 21
Payments due:
Feb 21: $175
March 7: $100
March 21: $100Directly from Brazil - Bodysuit, wire headpiece, wire bra, materials to decorate
To help support as many dancers as possible, this premium costume is not eligible for dancers who are part of work trade or scholarship program.
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Order + deposit deadline: Mar 14
Payments due:
March 14: $150
March 28: $100Bodysuit, accessories, materials to decorate
Costume fees for teens 14-18 years old will be covered by Youth Art Exchange!
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Order + deposit deadline: Feb 21
Payments due:
Feb 21: $185
March 7: $100Shirt, shorts or pants, accessories, headpiece or hat, materials to decorate
We may be able to accommodate late orders. Please reach out.
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Order + payment deadline: Feb 21
Payment due: Feb 21: $245
Backpack wire, materials to decorate
To help support as many dancers as possible, this premium costume piece is not eligible for dancers who are part of work trade or scholarship program.
Only backpacks designed by Raffa and purchased through Sambaxe are eligible to be used in the parade to uphold Raffa’s artistic vision.
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Order + payment deadline: Feb 28
Payment due: Feb 28, full price based on selection + shipping
Make selection from Brazil Carnival Shop for a group order
Price variable based on design, material, and shipping fees
Colors for 2026: gold, silver, and a surprise color. (Gold, short gladiator style is usually our choice for other performance opportunities)
To help support as many dancers as possible, this premium costume piece is not eligible for dancers who are part of work trade or scholarship program.
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Order + payment deadline: May 2
Payments due: May 2: $325
Hoop skirt, top, accessories
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Order + deposit deadline: May 2
Payments due: May 2: $70
Costume details to come in the spring
What to expect
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Learn the movements and meanings
Samba music and dance carries deep meaning and cultural significance. We welcome dancers of all levels. We’re here to have fun sharing the tradition of samba!
Main Section Dancers:
● Weekly Samba no pé rehearsals from February through May to learn choreography for 2+ songs
● We want you feel prepared and to look cohesive as a group. Please plan to attend at least 10 rehearsals, including the final 3 weeks leading up to the parade!Baianas Section Dancers:
●The "ala das baianas" are traditionally ladies who represent the first groups of Bahia samba of the early 20th century. They provide samba schools a spiritual blessing.
● Dancers will learn simple choreography of traditional, spiritual, and graceful freestyle moves.Kid Dancers + Drummers:
● Kid Dancers will learn a modified version of the Main Section choreography.
● Kid Drummers will learn and play the beats to the parade songs.Spirit Section:
● All ages welcome! Just practice your smiles for the crowd and join us on the day of the parade! -
Dress to impress
Creative Director, Raffaella Falchi-Macias, designs new costumes for each year’s theme. She builds on inspiration from her visits to Brazil and we get certain pieces made there!
Costumes for the Main Section include a bodysuit or similar, headpiece, accent pieces, and optional components like feathered wings. We host costuming workshops where dancers construct elements of their own costumes and bond as a community. Save time for this labor of love!
Costumes for the Baianas Section will embody the roots of Bahian tradition through dance and clothing, like large skirts accompanied by a headscarf.
Costumes for Kid Dancers and Drummers will follow the theme for the year and will be announced in the spring.
Spirit Section members will wear a new 2026-themed shirt!
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Fundraising in our community
Each year we work as a group to raise funds to keep our costumes and participation in the parade as affordable as possible.
We ask that each dancer help with at least one fundraising event each season. Your involvement in fundraising helps us keep the joy of Carnaval possible for everyone in our community, regardless of financial means.
Raffa offers work trade scholarships on a case-by-case basis. Please contact Raffa (sambaraffa@gmail.com) or Kirsten (sambaxe.kirsten@gmail.com) for details. -
Showtime and celebrations
We’ll provide all the details to get you ready for the parade, including where the judges sit so you can shine even brighter as we dance by.
After the exhilaration of the parade, we gather for a celebration lunch in the Mission.
The day after the parade, Monday of Memorial Weekend, we have a celebration potluck to reminisce, share photos, and appreciate all our hard work. Save the date to join us in this tradition!
Frequently Asked Questions
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Drop ins are welcome at $35 per class. Once you register and pay the registration fee, your future classes will be $25.
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We want all dancers to feel comfortable with the choreography and dancing in a large group. Please plan to attend 10 rehearsals. The final 3 in May are particularly important to learning to dance in the street.
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Registration, costume, and used class fees are not refundable. Please reach out to Kirsten at sambaxe.kirsten@gmail.com if you have questions about discontinuing your participation.
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We recognize that getting childcare for a weekly commitment can be tough. Children are welcome at rehearsal. Parents and guardians will be 100% responsible, as we do not have dedicated childcare. Use your best judgement for what works for your family and fellow dancers.
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We have a work trade program and can customize payment plans to help dancers who need it. Please reach out to Raffa (sambaraffa@gmail.com) or Kirsten (sambaxe.kirsten@gmail.com) for details.
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Our custom costumes require a long lead time. You can join as a dancer as late as March 14, but all costume options may not be available.
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Nope! All are welcome! We’ll teach you what you need to know.
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Dancers will be primarily responsible for shoes in a specified color range to match our costumes, undergarments, and tights. Makeup, lashes, hair pieces, nails, are all optional and encouraged.
Sambaxé’s 2026 Carnaval Theme
A love letter to Rio…
Meu Querido Rio de Janeiro,
You are written in the language of samba, that ancient tongue born from the motherland, passed down from pé to pé and palma to palma. Your rhythm is older than your streets, older than your name — it lives in our chests like a heartbeat.
We write this letter in sequins and feathers, in the thunder of the Bateria. Every surdo a beat of resistance and tradition. Every repique a declaration. The tamborim, guiding our hips into the night air of the Sambódromo.
You taught us how to dance — not as performance, but as prayer. In samba, there is power, there is tradition, there is spirituality, there is Axé. In the community, there is belonging.
We have loved you in your morros and your tropical forestas, in the shadow of the Redentor, in the aqueducts of Lapa, in the songs of your blue macaws and on the beautiful sidewalk patterns of your Praias.
Generations of composers and incredible artists born in your favelas. Poets of the escolas wrote your name into lyrics that outlived empires. From the pagode circles to the grand allegories of the avenida Sapucaî, you have never stopped being made, remade, celebrated, reinvented — because a city this alive can never die.
This is our letter to you, Cidade Maravilhosa. Written in the only alphabet you ever truly understand: the body in motion, the drum in conversation with the soul, the voice that rises from the crowd and becomes, for one moment, in community, a single voice — Ours.
Orixas (deities) are worshiped in the Afro-Brazilian religions Candomblé, Umbanda, and in several other offshoot religions. According to Yoruba peoples (concentrated in the southwestern part of Africa), after the world was created, each orixá received a divine energy called Axé, giving the orixás the ability to govern certain aspects of the material world. Each orixá also represents different aspects of nature, both inside and outside the religious context. For example: Oxalá corresponds to the air we breathe and Oya/Iansã to the winds. Iemanjá is found in the oceans and seas; Oxum can be found in rivers and waterfalls.
The concept of Axé is an affirmation of faith in the divine power of the universe as a place where human beings can derive strength and energy from the celestial world of the orixás. In the Candomblé philosophy, axé is also defined as the power to make things happen! It is the power to invoke, to create light, or a pathway of positive energy.
About Afro-Brazilian Religion + Beliefs
Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro
The first Rio Carnival festival was held in 1840. Today there are about 70 samba schools. They bring together people who belong to the same neighborhood. Every year, these festivities bring hundreds of thousands of people to the parade and attract millions of tourists. The date of this event is set in relation to the date of Easter.
The carnival brings together a dozen samba schools which parade one after the other according to a precise calendar and theme. For several days, starting at night, music and dance overflow the streets of Rio de Janeiro. The carnival highlights Brazilian culture the parade is also a competition, where a school is crowned the winner.
Carnaval in San Francisco
Originating in the Mission District in 1979 with a few local Latino performance troupes parading and reveling in Precita Park, Carnival has blossomed to a weekend celebration that closes off Harrison and Mission Street from 16th to 24th Streets and includes nearly 100 contingents representing the four major ethnic groups of the Americas and was attended by approximately 75,000 spectators.
Because Carnival is celebrated during Memorial Day weekend, it signals the beginning of summer. Although the scale and commercial pressures have expanded greatly, both the parade and festival still remain the rightful domain of the Mission District.
The Grand Parade features the diverse Latin American, Caribbean and African Diasporic roots of the Mission District and the San Francisco Bay Area, and is televised. The festival covers 17 blocks in the Mission District, with five main stages, 50 local performing artists, 400 vendors, international food, dancing, sampling sites and entertainment for all.
