Brazilian Carnival 2008

Get your samba shoes on, Houston — Brazilian Carnival 2008 is coming. Okay, it won’t be the five-day/shut-down-the-city celebration that they have in Rio de Janeiro, but it will still have the trademark girls wearing little more than a giant headdress, a few sequins and a smile dancing madly to samba music. Lydia Pinto, a music promoter and the carnival’s organizer, says this, the first carnival she’s bringing to Houston, will be as authentic an experience as possible without a trip to Rio. “We have Brazilian music by the Sambajah Samba Band, real Brazilian dancers from Rio de Janeiro, and capoeira artists.” Of course, there will also be traditional Brazilian food and plenty of alcohol to help wash it all down. Giant screens will broadcast live feeds of Rio’s carnival throughout the night. Carnival 2008 starts at 9 p.m. Planeta Bar-Rio, 6400 Richmond. For information, call 713-952-4071 or visit www.myspace.com/brazilianeventshouston. $20 to $30.
Fri., Feb. 1, 9 p.m., 2008