The Carnival of Brazil is back.
The extravagant and sequined suits are again in preparation. Samba songs will resonate until tickets for the Rio de Janeiro parade are sold out. Hundreds of noisy and itinerant parties will flood the streets. And working-class communities will be stimulated, emotionally and economically, through renewed rejoicing.
Last year’s COVID-19 pandemic led Rio to delay carnival for two months and diluted some of the fun, which was most commonly enjoyed by locals.
Although Brazil has reported only about 300,000 COVID cases and 2,400 deaths over the past month, the numbers have greatly improved from a year ago. So this year, Brazil’s government expects 46 million more people to sign up for the festivities that began Friday. and will continue through Wednesday. This includes visitors from cities that make carnival a world-famous party, especially Rio but also Salvador, Recife and the city of Sao Paulo, which recently has a hot spot.
These towns already have to go crazy with street parties.
“We’ve waited so long. We deserve this catharsis,” Thiago Varella, a 38-year-old engineer dressed in a rain-soaked Hawaiian shirt, said at a party in Sao Paulo on Feb. 10.
Most tourists are eager to move on to street parties, known as blocos. Rio has allowed more than 600 and there are more unauthorized blocos. The biggest blocos draw millions of people to the streets, and one that plays Beatles songs to the rhythm of carnival in front of a crowd of thousands of other people. These giant blocos were canceled last year.
“We need to see the party, the colors, others and ourselves enjoying the carnival,” said Chilean tourist Sofia Umaña, 28, near Copacabana Beach.
Samba schools, founded in Rio’s most popular neighborhoods, spend millions on hour-long parades with elaborate floats and costumes, said Jorge Perlingeiro, president of Rio’s League of Samba Schools.
“What is elegant and beautiful is expensive. Carnival equipment is expensive,” Perlingeiro said in his warehouse next to the samba schools. “It’s such a vital holiday. . . It’s a birthday party of culture, joy, entertainment, recreation. “and especially its advertising and social side. “
He added that this year’s carnival will break records at the Sambadrome, where some 100,000 employees and spectators are expected to attend the sold-out corridor every day, as well as 18,000 parades. While President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is not expected to attend among them, his wife, Rosangela da Silva, said she would be at the parade.
The presence of the first lady marks a change in the management of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who has stayed away from the famous cultural event.
Nearly 700,000 Brazilians have died in the pandemic, the overall national moment in the world, after the United States, and many have blamed Bolsonaro’s response, weakening his re-election bid, which he lost to Lula. The festivities celebrate not only the return of carnival, but also Bolsonaro’s defeat.
This was the case on February 11 at the Heaven on Earth street party in the bohemian community of Santa Teresa de Rio. Musicians beat their drums while some revelers climbed the fences to observe the level above the throbbing crowd.
Anilson Costa, a walker, already had a breathtaking view from his elevated position. Covered in brightly colored flowers and pompoms, he poured a watering can classified “LOVE” on the other people dancing underneath.
“To see this crowd today is a dream, it’s very magical,” Costa said. “This is the post-pandemic Carnival, the Carnival of democracy, the Carnival of rebirth. “
This year stores some of the spirit of the 1919 edition, which took position just after the Spanish flu pandemic killed tens of thousands of Brazilians, but was no longer a significant threat. World War I had also just ended and other people were eager to download, said David Butter, from an e-book about that year’s celebration. “There were so many people in downtown Rio for carnival that the total domain ran out of water in a matter of hours,” Butter said.
The cancellation of the carnival in 2021 and its discreet edition last year have broken an industry that has been a source of work for just one year for carpenters, welders, sculptors, electricians, dancers, choreographers and all those who participate in the presentation of the parade to the public. As such, the full return of Carnival is a spice for local economies.
“Yesterday I went to bed at 3 in the morning. Today I will leave early, because I lost my voice,” said seamstress Luciene Moreira, 60, as she sewed a yellow suit in the warehouse of Salgueiro’s samba school. “You have to sleep later” one day, before the next — otherwise, the frame can’t stand it. But it’s very pretty!”
Rio expects about $1 billion in profits from its bars, hotels and restaurants, said Ronnie Costa, president of the city’s tourism agency. figure close to its maximum.
Small businesses benefit.
“Carnival is beautiful. People buy. Good thing all my workers are up to date,” said Jorge Francisco, who sells bright, shiny carnival accessories at his downtown Rio store. “For me it is an immense joy, everyone smiling and wishing. That’s Carnival. “
Subscribe to access Site Map
Followi
MORE FROM THE TIMES