Exaltation to life gives the tone in the Carnaval of Democracy

With more than 40 parades in Rio, Saturday of Carnaval (18/02) has Black Ball Cordão, Ipanema Banda, Heaven on Earth and Friends of the Onça, among other blocks

More than 40 processions, scattered throughout the city, animated this Saturday of Carnaval, 18/02, second official day of folia in the streets of Rio. The irreverence, the celebration for the resumption after 2 years, the exaltation of the Carnaval of Democracy and the celebration for life and the end of the pandemic gave the tone of the celebrations that took the streets of the city, dragging thousands of revelries.

Besides the Cordão da Bola Preta (Centro), the fourth megablock of the official circuit of the City Hall to parade in this Carnaval, stand out, among the parades of Saturday, the blocks Friends of the Onça (Flamengo); Beco do Rato (Lapa); Sky on Earth (Santa Teresa); Barbas (Botafogo); Band of Ipanema (Ipanema), Terreirada (São Cristóvão), Empolga às 9 (Copacabana) e Escarga (Jardim Botânico).

With the theme “Imbrochable? Lost mané!”, the Barbas Block kept the tradition of betting on political plots, as it has been doing since its creation, in 1985, conquering revelries inside and outside the Botafogo neighborhood. The Empolga at 9, in turn, also honored names of Brazilian popular music such as Gal Costa and Elza Soares, dragging a crowd of revelers to the edge of Copacabana to the sound of various MPB styles.

“ We have amazing women in our music. Our block always comes with a varied repertoire, filled with wonderful artists' successes. The women deserve to be revered, not only in the Carnaval, but all year long ", highlighted the writer and carnivalesca assumed, Thalita Rebouças, Queen of the block 12 years ago.

Terreirada once again presented his regional music and Brazilian show. On the lawn of Quinta da Boa Vista, the block extolled democracy and celebrated life with the performance of about 60 legels to the sound of “Lucky Subject”, singer and composer Belchior. In the parade, names such as those of former veterinarian Marielle Franco, educator Paulo Freire, British journalist Dom Phillips and psychiatrist Nise da Silveira were honored, among others.

Compositions by Gil, Caetano, Lulu Santos, Banda Eva, O Rappa and Baiana System, among many other artists of Brazilian popular music, animated the procession of the Bloc Amigos da Onça no Aterro do Flamengo. Among revelries dressed as beasts, characters with stylized costumes, dancers and dozens of wooden legs, the audience of the block, estimated by 20,000 people by the organizers, commanded a show of choreography and performances to the sound of the band, which sang, in addition to the hits, fun copyright compositions.

Anyone who wants to enjoy the fun on the streets of the city this year will find the biggest operational scheme ever produced today for the big party. The estimated revelry audience for this year is five million people. There will be eight fixed medical stations, two more than in 2020. Of these, half with municipal teams and the rest of private teams hired by Dream Factory, a company responsible since 2010, for the infrastructure and production of the Carnaval of Rua do Rio de Janeiro. In all, there will be two fixed medical posts in the Center; four in the South Zone (including new points in the Gávea and the Aterro); one in the Barra; and one in the Recreio.

In addition to the medical stations, the folião will have 220 ambulances and 34,000 sanitary positions, between chemical toilets and urinals, positioned where the blocks will pass, being 10% for people with disabilities (PCDs). The number of traffic operators more than doubled, this year there will be 3,250 agents, in 2020 there were 1,500. And to help clean up the city, Comlurb will provide the largest structure ever used by the company during the carnaval, with 2550 garis, dumpsters, urinalysis equipment, large, small and medium-sized sweepers and a thousand containers of 240 liters.

By the end of the month, the city will have over 400 parades held. And to help find the perfect street folia for you, Riotur has prepared an application with all the information about the official city calendar blocks. To know routes and times, just download the “Partiu Bloquimmm”, available on digital platforms.

More information on the website www.carnaval.rio and social networks of Riotur.