São Paulo Boosts Its Carnival Program

02/03/2017 - 14h53

Carnival in São Paulo keeps expanding. The city is taking greater risks and scheduling more and more events during the holiday - a time of year when residents would typically go out of town.

Several Carnival blocos, or street bands, have already lined themselves up for pre-Carnival, and things are already starting to pick up for Carnival itself.

In the downtown area of São Paulo, events will be evenly spread out, as 45 blocos are expected to show up for pre-Carnival - which starts on the weekend of the 18th of February - while 49 blocos are expected to show up on the actual holiday, which starts on the 24th and ends on the 28th.

A total of 495 blocos were registered this year in São Paulo. The city has yet to confirm how many of those will actually participate.

If all 495 participate, that would mean a 30% increase when compared to last year, and practically two times the number of blocks registered in 2015 (259).

The remarkable increase demonstrates that São Paulo is no longer afraid of living in Rio's shadow, as new blocos decide to march during the actual holiday, while old blocks are deciding to march on more prominent dates.

	Junior Lago/UOL
	São Paulo is taking greater risks and scheduling more and more events during the holiday - a time of year when residents would typically go out of town

Translated by THOMAS MATHEWSON

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