Deixa Falar

Deixa Falar was a voluntary carnaval association that was based out of the Estácio neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro. It is considered the first ever samba school, along with being the first entity created under that title. Though Portela, for instance, had been established earlier, Deixa Falar is considered a pioneering samba school, having established key tenants of what a samba school is.

The real nomenclature behind the association, however, is still slightly controversial. This is due to the fact that, between 1929 and 1932, even as it was still mentioned as a "samba school", they were considered a bloco. In fact, Deixa Falar never participated in carnival contests in that category.

Deixa Falar existed only for a short time, creating "embassies" (visits to other samba schools such as Mangueira, Oswaldo Cruz, and Madureira) and parading at Praça Onze during the carnavals of 1929, 1930 and 1931. They did not participate in the first official samba school contest in Rio de Janeiro, organized in 1932 by the newspaper Mundo Sportivo. The colors of the school were red and white as tributes to the bloco A União Faz a Força, which was led by samba musician Mano Rubem, also from Estácio, which ceased to exist following his death in 1927, and to America Football Club, which is based in the area next to the neighborhood.