The mayor of Sao Paulo, Bruno Covas, announced the postponement on Friday sine die of the carnival of the largest metropolis in Brazil due to the coronavirus, while Rio de Janeiro is considering this option.
“Both samba schools and“ blocos ” [défilés de rues, NDLR] of the carnival include the impossibility of organizing a carnival next February, ”said the city councilor, announcing the postponement of the biggest party of the year.
The new date for the carnival has not been determined, but it could be “at the end of May or the beginning of July” 2021, added the mayor of the city of 12 million people.
The state of Sao Paulo as a whole is hardest hit by the pandemic, which has officially killed 20,894 people there and infected 452,007 in total.
The carnival in the city of Sao Paulo is one of the most important in Brazil. The last edition attracted 120,000 people to admire the samba schools at the Anhembi Sambodrome, while the “blocos”, these parades that roam the streets for several weeks, have attracted more than 15 million revelers, according to the mayor. .
The celebration, which requires months of preparation, is also the occasion for substantial financial returns for the municipalities.
In Rio, where a sumptuous parade with monumental floats takes place for carnival and which attracts millions of tourists every year, five of the main samba schools recently announced their wish to postpone until 2021.
These schools do not want a carnival until a vaccine has been produced against the coronavirus, which has killed more than 84,000 so far in Brazil, which has infected more than 2.3 million people, and which always progressing.
Barrier gestures are impossible during the carnival: each school parades with nearly 3,000 costumed members, dancing tightly against each other and singing throughout the procession, which lasts a little over an hour.
The city of Sao Paulo has already canceled the LGBTQ + pride parade last June, one of the largest in the world, and postponed the March for Jesus from July to November, which also attracts millions of people.