“It is with great joy, celebrating life, democracy, that I hand over the keys to King Momo”: Rio de Janeiro’s carnival madness resumes its rights on Friday, with a wind of optimism after the end of the Covid-related restrictions and the change of government in Brazil.
The official kick-off was given at midday, with the handing over of the keys to the city to King Momo, the jovial monarch who symbolizes the irreverence of an unbridled party where (almost) all excess is permitted.
“It is with great joy, celebrating life, democracy, that I hand over the keys to King Momo,” said Mayor Eduardo Paes, wearing a Panama hat during a colorful ceremony in his official residence.
The streets have already been full since last weekend, with the musical processions of the “blocos”, while the samba schools are fine-tuning the last details of their sumptuous parades which will take place on Sunday and Monday nights.
The spectacle promises to be grandiose, with monumental floats as high as multi-storey buildings and thousands of costumed dancers from the schools who parade in turn at the sambadrome until daybreak.
“We always give the best of ourselves, we don’t count our hours, even at night, just to see people happy,” Rogerio Sampaio, who has spent the past few months making costumes for the club, told AFP. Viradouro school in a downtown shed.
This year, the parades at the sambadrome will take place just before Ash Wednesday, as tradition dictates.
They had been postponed for two months last year, to April, due to an increase in the number of Covid cases.
In 2021, the carnival was simply canceled due to the pandemic.
This year’s edition is the first without Covid restrictions but also the first since the return to power of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (left), who beat his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro in the October election.
“This carnival is also a tribute to democracy. The institutions have once again been put to the test but they have shown their strength,” Mayor Eduardo Paes said on Friday, an allusion to the depredation of places of power in Brasilia. by thousands of bolsonarists on January 8th.
The sambadrome must accommodate 100,000 people each night, between the 70,000 spectators and the people parading for the 12 samba schools competing for the big carnival competition.
Each formation has between 60 and 70 minutes to advance on Marques de Sapucai Avenue, an artery approximately 700 meters long surrounded by stands.
The schools will have to seduce the public but also the jurors who will grade them on criteria such as the theme of the parade, the percussion and the quality of the floats and costumes.
During the last editions, some parades have more or less explicitly criticized the Bolsonaro government (2019-2022), accused, among other things, of discrimination against minorities and of sacrificing cultural budgets.
This year, several schools have chosen to highlight the African roots of Brazil, the emblematic figures of the samba or the cultural traditions of the poor regions of the northeast.
“Carnival is the mirror of Brazil,” Leandro Vieira, the artistic director of the Imperatriz school, told Veja magazine.
“After these moments of darkness, both in popular culture and in politics, Brazil must reaffirm its best. (The choice of themes) is not a coincidence, it is light after darkness “, he continued.
Beyond social criticism, “this year, carnival is a great manifestation of joy, a celebration of life, of overcoming difficulties,” Adair Rocha, director of the cultural department of the University of State of Rio (Uerj).
The town hall estimates that it will inject some 4.5 billion reais (about 800 million euros) into the local economy.
The authorities are counting on more than five million people in the processions that roam the streets, with crazy costumes, loud music and flowing beer.
02/17/2023 20:00:41 – Rio de Janeiro (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
