Parasão do Tuiuti, responsible for opening the second day of parades, brought figures of animals from the Amazon and India aboard their floats to the frenetic rhythm of their drums, in homage to the state of Pará and its influences.
“It’s been the best experience of my life,” said English physiotherapist Bethany Robson, 32, who traveled from Melbourne, Australia, where she lives, to dance at Sapuca.
This year, Brazilians celebrate Carnival with particular enthusiasm, after the covid-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2021 edition and restricted the 2022 edition, held exceptionally in April.
“Carnival is about resistance, after everything Brazil has been through. It’s amazing to be a part of it,” said Robson, dressed in a huge hat with a basket of mangoes.
Many revelers also celebrate the end of the term of the far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro, who cut funds for culture and belittled the popular carnival party.
His successor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, promised to value the country’s artistic class, starting with the restitution of the Ministry of Culture, reduced to a lower-level secretariat during the Bolsonaro government.
– Centennial School –
In total, 12 schools parade between Sunday and Monday: each one with several thousand members who travel in unison the 700 meters of Avenida do Sambdromo, including dozens of tourists who pay small fortunes to be part of the carnival delirium.
The second to enter the avenue was Portela, the oldest active samba school in Rio, which celebrates its 100th anniversary with a parade about its own history.
Portela enchanted the public with great splendour, displaying period costumes from the 1920s and its traditional and imposing doorway, where the eagle, symbol of the school, can be seen.
The first night of parades had already been a shower of glitter, feathers and tributes to samba pillars like Zeca Pagodinho and Arlindo Cruz, as well as Bahia and the African roots that influenced Brazilian carnival.
Rio City Hall estimates that Carnival will attract a total of five million people to the city, including the street carnival, which is once again fully celebrated in the city’s neighborhoods for the first time in three years.
Financially, this means R$ 4.5 billion injected into the local economy, with the expectation of a hotel occupancy rate of over 95%.
In the state of So Paulo, the party was marked by tragedy: at least 40 people died over the weekend and dozens are still missing after heavy rains on the north coast, which receives thousands of visitors on these festive dates.