The Barranquilla carnival, the most important in Latin America after Rio de Janeiro, will be virtual this year and will take place under curfew due to the pandemic, the mayor of this Colombian city announced on Friday.
From Saturday February 13 at 6 p.m. to Monday 15 at 5 a.m., traffic in the city will be restricted: you can only go out to meet basic needs such as buying food or medicine. The sale of alcohol will be prohibited during this period.
“We cannot let our guard down because this war is not over yet,” Barranquilla mayor Jaime Pumajero said on Twitter.
“This is not the time for the holidays. Let’s make the effort to pay attention to ourselves, so that life wins, ”added the elected official.
Listed in 2003 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, the Barranquilla Carnival traditionally begins on the Saturday preceding the Catholic holiday of Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Municipality of Barranquilla is organizing events this year without an audience and transmitted by internet.
Parades, troupes and concerts that normally roam the city streets will only be visible on digital platforms.
Colombia, with a population of 50 million, is the second country in Latin America for the number of cases of contamination with the COVID-19 virus (around 2.1 million), and the third for the number of deaths (approximately 55,400).