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The streets of Brazil's second largest city
will again play host to the free and wildly hedonistic parties,
known as blocos, while the traditional samba schools will parade
through the city's Marques de Sapucai Sambadrome.
With the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic seemingly behind,
authorities expect the annual celebration to break records in
the tourism and service sectors, offsetting some of the losses
of the prior years.
"We believe the economy will generate five billion reais
($971.55 million) during Carnival alone, a record," the
president of the Rio Tourism Company (Riotur), Ronnie Aguiar,
told Reuters. "We're here very ready to welcome everyone who
comes from all over the world."
Around 80,000 tourists from abroad are expected to travel to Rio
for Carnival, up from 55,000 in 2020, before the pandemic struck
Brazil, according to the International Association of Air
Transport.
Countless hours of preparation go into planning for Brazil's
largest annual celebration.
"The volume of work is always very big. It's a rush to be able
to deliver everything on time, but we hope it's worth it and
it's going to be very beautiful," said Alessandra Araujo
Rodrigues, a member of the Unidos do Viradouro samba school.
Over 150 Carnival street blocos are expected to take over Rio's
streets during the week of Feb. 18-21, though celebrations will
extend for the whole month.
($1 = 5.1464 reais)
(Additional reporting by Fernando Cardoso; Writing by Carolina
Pulice; Editing by Anthony Esposito and Leslie Adler)
(Photo: Men at Vai Vai samba school work on a
carnival float as they prepare for Carnival in Sao Paulo,
Brazil, January 24, 2023. REUTERS/Felipe Iruata)
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