Join Mariana carnival to help the town, says culture secretary

Mariana City Hall, in Minas Gerais state, is expected to attract more revelers to the town during carnival. According to the secretary for culture, tourism and sport, around 35,000 people are expected to travel around the town. The programme is year's heights, having 70% of the attractions of artists from the town.

For José Luiz Pope, Mariana's assistant secretary for culture, tourism, and sport, there was a concern that people would not come because of the news reports giving the impression that the whole town had been hit by mud from Samarco's tailings dam. He noted that Bento Rodrigues, village near Mariana devastated by the mud, is more than 15 kilometers away from the town's center, and even if another dam collapsed, the mud would not reach the center, where the street parties are usually concentrated.

"We want the tourists to enjoy all the 320-year history that we have in Mariana and that remains here. We suffered property losses on churches in [the village of] Bento Rodrigues and in [the town of] Paracatu. But here, at the town's center, everything remains perfect. The town is decorated for carnival and it is not affected by a water shortage as has been reported. Join our carnival is a way to help us," said the secretary.

With the theme Um Giro na História: Mariana 320 (“A Tour on History: Mariana 320”), the carnival has attracted an investment of $117,000. Even with the economic crisis and the tragedy of the collapsed dam, Papa said the City Hall has paid the bills on time in 2015, and this has enabled the town to organize a carnival party for the population. Until Tuesday (Feb. 9), 43 attractions are scheduled for the Carnival, including samba schools parades, national bands concerts, samba groups, and traditional street blocks, like Os Farrapos, Zé Pereira da Chácara and Bloconecos.

Translated by Amarílis Anchieta