Rio will celebrate life and democracy, Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes said Friday as he symbolically handed the city’s keys to King Momo, a character from Greek mythology who has become the symbol of masquerade at the South American giant and other Latin American countries.
With figurative floats, thousands of members and an energetic battery of percussion, 12 samba escolas (schools) parade (yesterday and this Monday) for about 70 minutes to entertain the judges and the audience on Marqués de Sapucaí Avenue, the famous Sambódromo , to enchant , a structure created in 1984 by architect Oscar Niemeyer.
This type of concrete walkway can accommodate 80,000 spectators and more than 5,000 participants showing their talents.
For the so-called Golden Series, responsible for the official opening of the carnival and the main access group to the main parade, traditional schools such as Unión de la Isla, San Clemente, Estácio de Sá and Imperio da Tijuca are featured.
The title fight promises to be tight: 15 academies will compete in the cup and only one will guarantee access to the elite group together with the special associations in 2024.
Such pompous cavalcades are thematically spiced, mostly with strong social criticism, homage to the native people and the Afro-Brazilian religion.
An average daily audience of 120,000 people is estimated, including spectators in the stands and booths, members of the parades, carnival professionals and other areas.
Also, Sunday was the second day of the street festival in Rio, with more than 50 blocos (a group of people who parade in a semi-organized way, often wearing uniforms and performing the same fantasy) in the streets of the city, applying at least 613 at the same time this year their permission to do so.
The public who will be enjoying the celebrations in Rio through Wednesday morning will number five million, according to authorities.
According to the Ministry of Tourism, around 46 million will do so across the country, including foreign tourists. A collection of $1,558 million is expected.
Rio’s carnival is listed as the most emblematic of Brazil and connoisseurs describe it as the greatest spectacle in the world, but other states (Salvador, Recife, Olinda, Florianópolis and Sao Paulo) also hold their annual masked balls with characteristics typical of their region.
jf/ocs