It feels as if the biological clock of the Carnaval partygoers in Brazil has gone back to their regular time zone and the heart is once again beating in the same old pace as before —pumped by boxes, repiniques and tambourines, of course. This Friday (17th) and Saturday (18th), 14 Samba schools from the Sao Paulo's Special Group will once again parade at the Anhembi Sambadrome, in the north of São Paulo, during the official Carnival period.
In 2022, the parade had to be postponed to the end of April, not the party's original date, because of the omicron variant of the new coronavirus, which crowded hospitals and health centers at the beginning of the year. In 2021, Carnival was completely cancelled because of health measures against the Covid-19 pandemic.
Criticism of religious intolerance and racism are among the main themes of the first night of the parades, when Samba schools from São Paulo will also take a ride through the sea waters of the south coast of Rio de Janeiro or the Pantanal. There will be seven Samba Schools parading each day.
Translated by Cassy Dias