‘Carnival is here’: Rio de Janeiro gets ready to party
RIO DE JANEIRO: With the clock ticking down to what has been called the biggest party on Earth, Brazilian dancer Pedro H. Gaspar confesses he is “excited... and tired.”
Tired from long months of intense rehearsals. Excited because Rio de Janeiro’s legendary carnival is about to start.
“We talk a lot here about ‘PCT’: pre-carnival tension, which every samba school performer feels,” says the smiling, elegant Gaspar, a 30-year-old member of Unidos de Vila Isabel, one of 12 schools that will compete in Rio’s famed carnival parade competition Sunday and Monday nights.
“Carnival is here” is one of Rio’s favorite catch-phrases. The iconic beach city has been crisscrossed for weeks by “blocos,” the street parties that draw throngs of revelers in alternately skimpy and extravagant costumes this time of year, drunk on happiness and beer.
But the pinnacle of the party will be the samba schools’ sumptuous strut down the avenue at the city’s “Sambadrome,” the 70,000-capacity parade venue designed by modern architect Oscar Niemeyer, which is celebrating its 40th birthday this year.
But beyond the glitter, carnival also raises pressing political and social issues.
Many of the parades this year will pay tribute to little-known heroes of black history or celebrate Brazil’s African and Indigenous roots.
Not that there isn’t plenty of room for silliness and fun: the biggest hit single of the 2024 parades is a light-hearted samba singing the praises of the cashew fruit.
But carnival is also serious business.
The party, which is projected to bring in more than $1 billion in revenues this year, faces many of the same problems as Brazil at large.
With Rio suffering from violent crime, authorities have announced they will deploy thousands of police during carnival.