Fortaleza Carnival 2027: who can apply for the 81 slots and how to register by October 13

The Fortaleza Carnival 2027 Call for Blocs and Carnival Associations will select 81 projects for the city's pre-Carnival and Carnival season. Applications opened on September 21, 2026 and run through October 13, 2026 on the Mapa Cultural do Ceará platform. The total investment announced by Fortaleza City Hall is R$ 2.435.398,64.

Anyone planning to apply should define three points before submitting: the group's category, the type of applicant that will file the application and, for Street Blocs, the Fortaleza Regional Administration where the activities will take place. The call covers adult and children's street blocs, stage blocs, percussion groups and five types of carnival associations that parade on Avenida Domingos Olímpio.

Deadline, platform and call identification

Fortaleza City Hall states that applications run from September 21 to October 13, 2026. Submissions must be made through the opportunity provided on Mapa Cultural. On the TCE Ceará public procurement portal, the selection is listed as CHP028/26SECULT/2026, linked to administrative proceeding P343790/2026, and the instrument file is identified as Call Notice No. 11892 - Secultfor.

This identification helps applicants avoid confusing this call with the separate accreditation process for bands and DJs in the same Carnival season. For this article, the relevant document is the funding call for blocs and carnival associations.

1. Open the opportunity indicated by Secultfor on Mapa Cultural.
2. Read the full call notice and check its attachments and required fields before starting the form.
3. Choose the segment, category and, for a Street Bloc, the corresponding Regional Administration.
4. Fill in the applicant and group information and attach only the documents requested for your case.
5. Review the fields, attachments and final application status before the deadline.

The official news release sets October 13 as the closing date but does not state the exact closing time in the text reviewed. Check the opportunity page and the full notice for the actual cutoff time rather than assuming the system will remain open until the end of the day.

Who can apply: individuals, legal entities and MEIs

Individuals aged 18 or older, or legally emancipated individuals, may apply when representing groups without legal incorporation in one of the eligible categories. Private-law legal entities, including Individual Microentrepreneurs, known as MEIs, may also apply if they have a cultural purpose and represent groups with or without legal incorporation in the covered categories.

In practice, having a CPF, CNPJ or MEI registration is not enough on its own. The applicant must fit the accepted form of representation for the group and the selected category. The complete rules on documentation, restrictions, selection criteria and stages should be checked in Call Notice No. 11892 and its attachments.

How the 81 slots are distributed

The 81 slots are divided into 45 bloc projects and 36 carnival association projects. Segment I, for blocs, receives R$ 1.050.000,00. Segment II, for associations that parade on Avenida Domingos Olímpio, receives R$ 1.385.398,64.

The official announcement gives the per-project amounts for Street Blocs, Stage Blocs and percussion groups, but only gives the combined R$ 1.385.398,64 amount for all carnival associations. The per-project amounts for afoxé, cordão, parade bloc, maracatu and samba school therefore need to be checked in the full call notice. Reusing figures from earlier editions for the 2027 application can lead to errors.

What changes depending on the selected category

For Street Blocs, the territorial choice is part of the application. Adult blocs have two slots in each of the 12 Regional Administrations, while children's blocs have one slot in each Regional Administration. Once selected, these blocs must deliver their four performances in the territory chosen in the application.

Stage Blocs and percussion groups have different delivery formats. Stage Blocs give six performances. Percussion groups take part in four street processions and one stage performance. Afoxés, cordões, parade blocs, maracatus and samba schools form the association segment scheduled for the Avenida Domingos Olímpio parade.

This difference should guide the category choice before the form is filled out. Applicants should choose the category that actually matches the group and the delivery format in the notice, rather than choosing solely based on the number of slots or the funding amount.

Documentation: how to check what is actually required

The City Hall announcement says the full notice contains the documentation requirements, selection criteria, categories and process stages, but it does not reproduce the document checklist in the news release. The correct requirements therefore need to be checked in Call Notice No. 11892 and the attachments available through the official opportunity.

• First, identify whether the application will be filed by an individual or a legal entity, including an MEI.
• Then locate the section of the notice that applies to the applicant type and the group's category.
• Download and read the applicable attachments and declaration templates before uploading files.
• Check that names, CPF or CNPJ, group representation, category and Regional Administration, when applicable, are consistent across all fields.
• Check the notice itself to see whether any document requires a signature, a specific format, a validity period or a mandatory template.
• Before final submission, make sure every requested attachment has been included and that the application is actually submitted rather than merely saved as a draft.

It is not safe to replace this check with a document list from another year. Even when the program structure looks similar, requirements, forms and declarations can change between editions.

How to choose the category before opening the form

• Adult Street Bloc: for the adult street-bloc segment competing territorially across the 12 Regional Administrations.
• Children's Street Bloc: children's category with one slot per Regional Administration.
• Stage Bloc: a four-slot category with six scheduled performances.
• Percussion group: a five-slot category with four street processions and one stage performance.
• Avenida Domingos Olímpio associations: afoxé, cordão, parade bloc, maracatu or samba school, according to the group's nature and the definitions in the notice.

If the group seems to fit two categories, the definitions in the notice should take precedence over the informal name the group normally uses. Checking this before submission helps prevent a project from being filed in a category that does not match the stated characteristics or obligations.

Final checklist before submitting

• Confirm that the project is being submitted to Call Notice No. 11892 for Blocs and Carnival Associations, not the separate band and DJ accreditation.
• Choose the correct segment and category.
• For a Street Bloc, confirm the selected Regional Administration and the ability to deliver the required performances in that territory.
• Check that the applicant meets the conditions for an individual or legal entity, including an MEI.
• Read the full notice's document list and attachments.
• Review uploaded files, required fields and the final submission status.
• Check the actual closing time on Mapa Cultural for October 13, 2026.

Official sources for checking the call

The main reference is Fortaleza City Hall's publication about the 2027 call. The public call can also be found on the TCE Ceará procurement portal, which lists CHP028/26SECULT/2026, proceeding P343790/2026 and Call Notice No. 11892. To apply, use the official Mapa Cultural do Ceará opportunity indicated by Secultfor.