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3:12
Carnival in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro canceled due to Omicron variant
You can enjoy the parades at the Sambadrome, with extreme restrictions.
For the second year in a row, the city of Rio de Janeiro will not enjoy Carnival in the street.
Eduardo Paes, current mayor, reported it on Wednesday, after holding a meeting with the delegates of the 'blocos' (street groups), who for days ago, asked for a conclusive situation regarding the celebration.
Finally, celebrating this date will be basically impossible due to the increase in cases caused by the omicron variant, which encourages not to motivate the crowds, because it is starting its excursion in Brazil.
Paes is sure that the carnival, by its nature and its democratic angle, does not allow any type of control to be handled, so he does not see any conditions for it to be praised with the epidemiological information that is expected in half a month.
Measures taken in various cities
The Rio Carnival is responsible for bringing together a little more than 450 blocos, some of them are responsible for dragging various individuals through the streets. The crowd is the embodiment of the party and the control is undoubtedly complicated.
The municipality of São Paulo, the most populous city in Brazil, and the one that organizes the largest Carnival, followed the example of Rio de Janeiro, after the meeting held on Thursday.
These measures could not be taken from one day to the next, due to the fact that many blocos were going to start parading in January, despite the fact that the official holiday is from February 25 to March 1.
The celebration requires meticulous preparation by specialists to ensure well-being and cleanliness.
The Ambev brewery, the main sponsor, also requested a reasonable situation from the committee in charge, so that its image would not be involved in another health crisis.
Paes offered an option to try to save the furniture and take advantage of the artists and specialists, after two extremely difficult years.
Therefore, a group of the most common "blocos" would be chosen, and they would coordinate the outdoor shows in fenced corners where the limit of people could be controlled, the presentation of the vaccination card, this event being completely free.
Although the event sponsors accepted the proposal, the 'blocos' automatically rejected it, ensuring that this type of event would take away the essence of the street carnival, which is irreverent, anarchic and naturally spontaneous. They insisted that it be done as usual, or simply not done.
The marches of the samba schools in the Rio Sambadrome, with their huge floats and amazing costumes, have not been withdrawn.
The samba schools continue with their practices, regardless of the fact that the street carnival was canceled.
More than 70,000 observers constantly pass by the Sambadrome, but all of them buy the ticket and remain seated in a tribune.
For this reason, the authorities are sure that specifically this celebration can be carried out, for the ease of being able to have a control. The possibility of requiring vaccination tests and a negative Coronavirus test is being studied.
The mayor of the city made a comparison with football to save the possibility of saving the Sambadrome. He declared that if a Flamengo match is held in the Maracaná, there may be a caravan of Portela and all the samba schools in the samba scene, which is Avenida Marqués de Sapucaí.
Not only is Rio the main Brazilian city that cancels Carnival, Salvador has also canceled the Momo holiday. The blocos of Recife and Olinda will not parade either.
