Carnival in Sao Paulo in February 2020
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July 24, 2020 21h13
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Sao Paulo postpone its carnival 2021
Agence France-Presse
SAO PAULO — The mayor of Sao Paulo, Bruno Covas, announced on Friday the postponement sine die of the carnival of the largest metropolis of Brazil due to the coronavirus, while Rio de Janeiro is considering this option.
“As the samba schools that the blocos (parades street, editor’s note) of the carnival include the inability to organise a carnival for next February,” said the municipal official, in announcing the postponement of the biggest party of the year.
The new date of the carnival has not been determined, but it could be “at the end of may or at the beginning of July” 2021, ” added the mayor of the city of 12 million inhabitants.
The State of Sao Paulo as a whole is the most affected by the epidemic that has officially killed 20 894 people and contaminated 452 007 in total.
The carnival of the city of Sao Paulo is one of the most important of Brazil. The last edition attracted 120 000 people to see the samba schools in the Sambodrome of Anhembi, while the “blocos”, these parades that roam the streets for several weeks, have drained more than 15 million party-goers, according to the mayor.
The party, which demands months of preparation, is also the occasion of financial inflows are substantial for the municipalities.
In Rio, where is being held for the carnival a sumptuous parade, with floats and monumental, which each year attracts millions of tourists, five of the major samba schools have announced recently their desire for a postponement until 2021.
These schools do not want to carnival as a vaccine has not been produced against the coronavirus that has claimed more than 84, 000 deaths to date in Brazil, infected more than 2.3 million people, and is still progressing.
The gestures of the barrier are not possible during the carnival : each school parade with nearly 3,000 members in costume, dancing tight against each other and singing along the procession, which lasts a little over an hour.
The city of Sao Paulo has already cancelled the pride parade LGBTQ+ last June, one of the largest in the world, and rescheduled from July to November, the March for Jesus, which also attracts millions of people.
