'Rebirth' in Rio as carnival street parties return
RIO DE JANEIRO - Covered in golden glitter, Brazilian domestic worker Vera Lucia da Silva is bursting to be back parading through Rio de Janeiro in a carnival street party, after a three-year hiatus for Covid-19.
This year marks the full comeback of the world's biggest carnival after Rio hosted a watered-down version in 2022 -- postponed by two months because of the pandemic, and held without the epic street parties known as "blocos" that usually swarm the iconic beach city this time of year.
"To people from Rio, street carnival is everything that's good in life," beamed Da Silva, as she paraded through the hillside neighbourhood of Santa Teresa in a bloco known as "Ceu na Terra" -- Heaven on Earth.
Rio authorised around 400 blocos this year. They have been flooding the streets ahead of the main carnival event: the city's samba school parade competition, scheduled for Sunday and Monday nights.
Many revellers are also celebrating because it is the first carnival since the election loss of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right conservative whose critics accuse him of authoritarian tendencies and attacking numerous causes close to the carnival community's heart, from diversity to gay rights to the arts.
Some revellers poked fun at the ex-army captain, whose slogan was "Brazil above all, God above everyone."
"We're for 'carnival atop all, booze inside everyone,'" said 44-year-old teacher Amelia Crespo, who was sporting the Brazilian football team's yellow jersey, a national symbol that Bolsonaro supporters attempted to claim as their own.
"This is a moment of rebirth," said Pericles Monteiro, a founder of Ceu na Terra and conductor of its 200-member band.
There is an optimistic vibe in the air at "Samba City," the sprawling hangars where the samba schools prepare the towering floats and sumptuous costumes for their world-famous shows at the city's "Sambadrome" parade venue.
"You can feel it: culture is valued again," said Tarcisio Zanon, creative director at the Viradouro samba school.
"This is going to be a carnival of redemption, of hope for a better future."
Rio officials are expecting five million people to take part in street carnival, moving an estimated one billion reais ($190 million) for the local economy.
No comments:
Post a Comment