Usually on the evening “Rei Momo”, which governs the foolish troops until Ash Wednesday, the key to the city is symbolically handed over – instead, the Brazilian metropolis of Rio de Janeiro started an unusual carnival on Friday evening. The city administration had canceled the street carnival because of the corona pandemic and postponed the famous parades in the Sambodrome to April.
However, events in closed rooms are allowed with the argument that admission controls and checks of vaccination certificates are easier to do there than on the street. Various festivals are on the program during the carnival days in Rio, during which the Association of Samba Schools of Rio de Janeiro (Liesa) unofficially opens the carnival with an event in the “Cidade de Samba” and mini parades of the twelve best samba schools. Around 80 so-called blocos – samba groups that otherwise roam the streets or play music in squares – were to perform in hotels, clubs and other places.
It was eagerly awaited whether the samba groups would also roam the streets without permission. Some Rio residents arranged to meet via social media and Whatsapp groups in order to make the action as secret and spontaneous as possible, like a flash mob.
The blocos have a creative and spontaneous way of reacting to current events. For example, a bloco whose name alludes to Russian President Vladimir Putin was stopped in the port area of Rio last weekend.