By 1952, the term trio elétrico had become generic, in reference to a truck or bus carrying musicians around during Bahian carnival.

The components of a block have a predefined meeting time in the beginning of their track, called concentração (English: concentration).

After the parade concludes its official track, the trio elétricos go to a special place called dispersão (English: dispersion), where there is no longer separation between members of blocks and the audience.

Its format is similar to the trio elétrico street parades in Salvador, with a significant overlap in the performing acts.

Morro de São Paulo is another popular site, where there is no official (governmental) organization, and most parties are private.

Within one month after the official ending, some media groups host award gala events to recognize outstanding achievement in the carnival.

While members of the afoxés brought their Afro-Brazilian religious cosmology to the Carnaval procession by maintaining their African roots with the puxada do ijexá (a rhythm played in honor of the orixás or Afro-Brazilian deities), the flourishing middle-class blocos mostly relied on carnaval music styled on Rio de Janeiro's samba-enrredos.

Then the Afro-blocos emerged with an aesthetical proposal extrapolated from the Indian blocos, introducing some fundamental innovations in the process: parades revolved around themes and music was tailored to fit the occasion.

With the emergence of new Bahian talent who continued to popularize regional rhythms, Carnaval became more of an organized affair though it somehow retained its informality and contagious spontaneity.

The success of Luiz Caldas, Sara Jane, and Chiclete com Banana, along with the evolution of Ilê Aiyê and the emergence of Olodum played a part in transforming Salvador’s Carnaval into the biggest, longest, most itinerant open-air show in the world.

The upper and middle classes finally succumbed to the Carnaval–inspired ideal of racial harmony and by the end of the 1980s the pre-Lent celebration entered a process of irreversible debauchery.

The success of precursors such as Luis Caldas, Chiclete com Banana, Ilê Aiyê, Margareth Menezes, and Olodum heralded the convergence of Carnaval and commercial music.

Her show broke public attendance records from Oiapoque to Chuí and she became the first exponent of the new Bahian sound to have a television special on her musical career transmitted on a national station, Rede Globo.