About a thousand samba dancers and musicians were expected in downtown Helsinki on Saturday afternoon for the annual Helsinki Samba Carnaval, which is the Finnish championship event in the genre. The event attracts tens of thousands of spectators each year. They are promised a spectacle of writhing dancers, over-the-top costumes and relentless drum rhythms.



The programme kicked off at the Senate Square at 2 pm, with the procession beginning an hour later. Yle’s live broadcast began at 2:45 pm.



This year’s event took place under partly cloudy skies with a high of around 18 degrees Celsius.

The parade snaked from Senate Square along Unioninkatu to the north side of the Esplanade to Mannerheimintie and Aleksanterinkatu, where it concluded at the intersection of Mikonkatu.