Carnival parades in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, scheduled for late February, have been postponed to April due to the new wave of Covid-19, authorities said on Friday (January 21). The new scheduled date is April 21, which marks the start of a long holiday weekend.
“The town halls of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo have decided to postpone the parades of the samba schools” end of April, “due to the current pandemic situation in Brazil and the need to preserve lives”, announced in a press release the authorities of the two largest Brazilian cities. The decision to postpone the sambadrome parades in Rio, which attract tourists from around the world, as well as those in Sao Paulo, was announced after a virtual meeting between mayors, their health secretaries and representatives of samba schools in the two states.
Brazil, the second most affected country in the world by the pandemic with more than 622,000 deaths, recorded its highest daily figure for infections this week with 204,854 new cases recorded in one day. Brazil has vaccinated nearly 70% of its 213 million people with two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.
“It is a necessary postponement, we will have much more security to carry out [le carnaval] end of April “, said Rio de Janeiro’s health secretary, Daniel Soranz. “Following the curve of the pandemic in other countries, we think it is very difficult for the current wave to continue until April”, he added.
“We respect science and we are going to take balanced and adequate measures to, at the same time, respect a party that is the greatest cultural and popular manifestation in Brazil and that has an important impact on the economy of Rio de Janeiro”, said the mayor of this city Edouardo Paes, a fervent admirer of the carnival.
“It’s the right attitude”
Leagues representing samba schools in Rio and Sao Paulo said they supported the authorities’ decision. “It’s the right attitude, it has the full support of the samba schools and we hope that on April 21 we can have a party full of joy as the carnival requires”, said Sideni Carriuolo, president of the league of samba schools of Sao Paulo, who attended the discussions with the authorities.
“The Rio Carnival is “the greatest show on earth”, synonymous with joy, and which enchants everyone”, said a statement from the League of Samba Schools of Rio, adding however that the “life and health of the public and participants” was equally important.
Samba schools, neighborhood organizations with up to 4,000 members each, spend months preparing their parades consisting of elaborate carriages, thousands of handcrafted costumes, with dancers and musicians rehearsing for months to shine before the jurors of the Sambadrome.
Those who had already bought tickets for the February parades will be able to use them in April and a telephone line made available to answer questions from ticket holders. On the other hand, the street carnival in the two cities had already been canceled at the beginning of the month due to the health situation.