Samba songs were ringing out ‘til dawn at Rio de Janeiro’s sold-out parade grounds.
That includes visitors to cities that make Carnival a world-famous bash, especially Rio but also Salvador, Recife and metropolitan Sao Paulo, which has recently emerged as a hotspot.
The biggest blocos lure millions to the streets, including one bloco that plays Beatles songs with a Carnival rhythm for a crowd of hundreds of thousands.
The premier spectacle is at the Sambadrome.
He added that this year’s Carnival will smash records at the Sambadrome, where some 100,000 staff and spectators are expected each day in the sold-out venue, plus 18,000 paraders.
Nearly 700,000 Brazilians died in the pandemic, the world’s second-highest national total, after the U.S., and many blamed Bolsonaro’s response, weakening his bid for reelection that he ultimately lost.
That was the case at the Heaven on Earth street party in Rio’s bohemian Santa Teresa neighborhood on Feb.
This year shares some of the spirit of the 1919 edition, which took place right after Spanish influenza killed tens of thousands of Brazilians, but was no longer a significant threat.
Carnival’s cancelation in 2021 and its lower-key version last year pummeled an industry that is a nearly year-long source of jobs for carpenters, welders, sculptors, electricians, dancers, choreographers and everyone else involved in bringing parades to the public.
Today, I’ll leave earlier, because I’ve lost my voice,” said seamstress Luciene Moreira, 60, as she sewed a yellow costume in samba school Salgueiro’s warehouse.
Rio expects some 5 billion reais in revenue at its bars, hotels and restaurants, the president of the city’s tourism agency, Ronnie Costa, told the AP.
“Carnival is beautiful, people are buying, thank God all my employees are paid up to date,” said Jorge Francisco, who sells sequined and sparkled Carnival accoutrements at his shop in downtown Rio.
A costumed reveler on stilts greets a spectator during the Carmelitas street party on the first day of Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Feb.