Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Feb 13 (EFE). – Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians enjoyed the last official day of Carnival on Tuesday, with massive parades in the country’s major cities, some of which had to end earlier than planned due to high temperatures.
From the early hours the streets of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Salvador, Recife, and even Brasilia were filled with the colorful explosion of costumes and the roar of musical drums.
In Rio, the mecca of the Brazilian festival, the concentration began at 7:00 am local time for the gigantic “bloco” (street parade) of Ludmilla, one of the top singers of the current Brazilian music scene.
Up to 600,000 people were expected to attend the Carioca singer’s performance.
Ludmilla lights up Rio
“It’s time to dance here in Rio de Janeiro,” exclaimed the winner of the 2022 Latin Grammy in the samba/pagode album category for her work ‘Numanice #2.’
However, she had to end her performance earlier than planned due to the intense heat, which resulted in at least thirty party-goers needing medical attention.
Ludmilla argued that her priority was the “integrity” of her fans and recommended that the next party group leave later to avoid the midday sweltering heat.
Maximum temperatures close to 40°C (104°F) are expected on Tuesday.
Tanker trucks to beat the heat
About fifty parades also took to the streets of São Paulo on Tuesday.
In the country’s most populous city, which has also become a carnival center in recent years, they tried to combat the high temperatures by spraying water into the crowds from tanker trucks set up by the mayor’s office.
“Temperatures are not easing up and are quite high in all regions of Brazil,” the National Institute of Meteorology (Inmet) warned on social media.
The group Cornucópia Desvairada celebrated cultural diversity with a repertoire that combined genres such as forró, maracatu, samba, and axé.
Pagu, an all-female drumming group, took center stage with some 130 women played the classics of Brazilian music to the delight of the audience.
Although Carnival officially ends in Brazil on Tuesday, many are willing to extend it until at least Sunday.
Ash Wednesday will also be an important day, as the organizers of the Rio Carnival will choose the champion samba school from among the dozen that have performed the past two nights at the Sambadrome, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.
In fact, parties are planned for the next two weekends in the country’s main cities, and some even for the first days of March, in what is known in Brazil as the post-carnival period, which brings together the thousands of people who are reluctant to bring down the curtain on the carnival of 2024. EFE
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