We were told we had "allocated seats",and I guess we could have insisted and sat exactly where our tickets indicated, but in reality, it was a bit more fluid than that. Being not overly crowded (as it was an access group parade), we were able to find an approximate spot that worked.

Starting at about 10 pm, eight samba schools were scheduled to perform on the night. We did not last the distance. With a 5 or 6 am expected finish time, we knew we were not going to make it. We cheered and danced and enjoyed until around 2:30.

I got the impression that "seeing sunrise from the Sambadrome" is something akin to a right of passage for Cariocas (those from Rio).