In Rio, even a ban can't keep revelers from Carnival streets

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The pandemic may have disrupted Carnival plans in Rio de Janeiro for a second straight year, but revelers who have flocked to the Brazilian city for sun, sea and samba still found ways to party on Saturday.

Thousands defied an official ban on street parties by dancing, singing and mingling to the rhythm of Samba, sometimes as police looked on.

Others attended more formal events that moved indoors this year after City Hall banned “blocos,” the tightly packed street parties traditionally thronged by those who cannot or do not want to lay out for pricey tickets for the official parade at the Sambadrome — which this year has been postponed to April because Brazil is still not past the omicron wave.

“I think it’s a shame this has to happen this way,” said Tulio Brasil, a 29 year-old music marketing director who found one of the unauthorized street parties in the city center.

“It doesn’t make sense to crowd everyone into a closed place when the street, an open space, much more airy, is prohibited," he said.

The indoor parties — and the fee to get in — are a heresy for many Brazilians who say that Carnival's block parties are essentially and historically parties by the people and for the people.

“There is great hypocrisy about all this,” said Deivid Domênico, a samba composer linked to the Mangueira samba school. “In January, when the omicron wave was peaking, they didn’t take any public measures to limit the spread of the virus; bars and restaurants were still open. But they canceled Carnival.”

The city's decision to postpone Carnival has frustrated many professionals and creative types whose livelihoods center around one of the largest festivals in the world - especially since large gatherings in enclosed spaces have gone undisturbed.

“Stadiums are...