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RIO DE JANEIRO. The Rio de Janeiro Carnival was postponed indefinitely. It should have been held next February, but the coronavirus emergency has imposed a halt on the event that attracts millions of people each year. We have to go back in history to 1912 to find a precedent. And the news comes after the Sao Paulo Carnival had already been postponed eight months, until October 2021. Brazil, one of the countries most affected by the pandemic, has more than 4.6 million cases of Covid-19 and 139,808 deaths. . Yesterday’s official data speak of 32,817 infections and 831 deaths in 24 hours. The samba schools that work all year round to prepare for the Rio Carnival had already warned: without a vaccine it is difficult to maintain the tradition.
However, there are those who are studying an “alternative solution”. Like Jorge Castanheira, president of Liesa, the independent samba schools of the Rio League. It is thought, he said in statements reported by the BBC, “of something that can be done safely.” But a date cannot be announced yet and the only certainty is that the samba schools would not have enough time to prepare the February appointment. The postponement refers only to the “official” event, not to the “blocos” that make Carnival even more spectacular with different uses, customs and traditions. There is no shortage of fears about the repercussions on the economy.
