Street parties lead Brazil's Carnival warm-up

Thousands of people across Brazil swarmed to the streets this weekend to party as street blocos warmed up for Carnival, a festivity that begins next Saturday (Feb. 25)—officially at least.

Some 175 blocos paraded in the streets of São Paulo. On a hot Sunday with temperatures over 34°C, the Baixo Augusta swept the central area of the city.

With an activist attitude standing up for the occupation of the streets and the right to leisure, it has grown to become one of the city's biggest blocos, drawing 180,000 people last year. This year, organizers expect it to reach 300,000.

The street Carnival in São Paulo began this Saturday (Feb. 18) and runs until March 5. In total, 391 blocos will be there, 28% more than in 2016. At Ibirapuera park, the party on Saturday (18) was led by the singer-composer Alceu Valença with the bloco Bicho Maluco Beleza, at its third parade in the city.

Rio de Janeiro

The hot summer has not put off the thousands of revelers who flooded the streets of Rio at the weekend. The energetic Cordão do Boitatá was teeming with fun costumes. Dressed with flowers hanging from her skirt, top, and hair, social scientist Daniela Souza said she was dressed as Claude Monet's garden. Her husband João Gonçalves was wearing a long beard, straw hat and most of all imitating the French painter. “We love Monet and we decided to try our hand at a tribute,” Gonçalves said.

At the Bloco da Preta with the singer Preta Gil, daughter of the singer-composer-former Culture Minister Gilberto Gil, thousands of people flocked to the city center as Military Police observed from watchtowers erected for the event.

About 50 official blocos—those the local government helped fund—paraded in Rio city on Sunday alone.

But the economic crisis—one of the worst the state has ever faced, which has created funding difficulties for smaller street bands—has also forced them to find alternative solutions to keep the show on this year. In the southern district of Leme, three blocos chipped in to put on a show that drew thousands of revelers.

“We raised the money to set up this party by doing gigs around the country all year long. It gets really hard for the smaller groups when you don't have a sponsor, and this is how we worked it out. We had to find a way, so the best we could do was to share a stage with other blocos,” said Carlo Zarro, chair of Bloco Brasil. The group encourages revelers to leave their cars at home and bike to the party.

Translated by Mayra Borges