Image: MAURO PIMENTEL (AFP)
The “União do Parque Acari” school started on Friday evening (local time). During her parade she told the story of “Ilê Aiyê – 50 years of struggle and resistance”. Brazil’s first Afro-bloc is a symbol of black culture and resistance to discrimination. Seven other samba schools that qualified for the promotion class of the parade performed until the early hours of Saturday morning, taking spectators into another world with their magnificent floats. The carnival also thrilled the crowds in other Brazilian cities such as Recife, Salvador and São Paulo.
The city key was handed over to “King Momo”.
Rio’s mayor Eduardo Paes had officially rung in the colorful hustle and bustle at Sugarloaf Mountain during the day by handing over the city keys to “King Momo”, the symbolic figure of the carnival. This process was even recorded in a decree published in a special edition of the Official Gazette.
The top twelve schools will perform on Sunday and Monday. Tens of thousands in the stands and millions watching television in Brazil and around the world usually watch parades on the oversized catwalk designed by famed Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer in 1984. This year Tribünenstrasse is celebrating its 40th anniversary.
- More on the topic: Rio’s samba queens conquer the Brucknerhaus
Biggest party in the world
The Rio Carnival is the largest party in the world, with the city administration expecting a total of seven million people in the city. It is estimated that the carnival will generate an economic turnover of five billion reais (about 934 million euros) – with services directly or indirectly linked to the celebrations. Hotels would operate at 85 percent occupancy during the festive period, it said. Since last weekend, the “Cariocas”, as the residents of Rio are called, and tourists have been getting in the mood for the carnival with musicians and dancers in the streets of various parts of the city. It’s currently midsummer in the southern hemisphere – the thermometer at Sugarloaf Mountain showed over 30 degrees on Friday.
At the street carnival in the coming days, dozens of carnival groups – the so-called blocos – will parade through the streets of the districts to create atmosphere. The “Blocos” have always formed something of a parallel carnival to the strictly regulated parades in the Sambodrome, in which a jury awards marks like figure skating. The city administration approved 453 moves this season. “Rio de Janeiro uses Carnival to show the world the best that the city has to offer,” said Ronnie Costa, president of the Riotur tourism agency, which is responsible for organizing the carnival.
- Also read: With these events, the carnival in Upper Austria is entering its finale
Largest carnival investment in the state’s history
According to the city administration, this year’s carnival is the largest carnival investment in the history of the state with 62.5 million reais (around 11.6 million euros). The carnival artists spent a total of 960 hours preparing over the course of the year. Planning begins more than four months in advance “to ensure the festival is brilliant,” Costa said.
My themes
For your saved topics were
new articles found.
info By clicking on the icon you can add the keyword to your topics.
info
By clicking on the icon you open your “my topics” page. They have of 15 keywords saved and would have to remove keywords.
info By clicking on the icon you can remove the keyword from your topics.
Add the topic to your topics.
Source: Nachrichten
