Amid restrictions due to coronavirus pandemic, glimpses of Brazil's Carnival in pictures
With this year’s Carnival cancelled, most showed up in the Uncle Sam themed costumes they’d used last year and made a quick dash up a single street.
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Brazil is still recording an average of more than 1,000 deaths a day from the pandemic and as in many countries, immunization campaigns have been lagging. Rio’s mayor’s office reported that as of Sunday morning, it had closed four nightclubs that broke restriction rules and imposed seven fines for social distancing violations. With this year’s Carnival cancelled, most showed up in the Uncle Sam themed costumes they’d used last year and made a quick dash up a single street. Image via The Associated Press/Bruna Prado
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Some Carnival fans met in small groups of “bate-bolas” or ball hitters group - revellers who dress up in exuberant, identical, hand-made costumes known as “fantasias” each Carnival — for symbolic celebrations on Saturday. Image via The Associated Press/Bruna Prado
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A member of a “bate-bola” eyes the camera during a brief appearance as part of a Carnival tradition despite restrictions due to the new coronavirus pandemic, in Rio de Janeiro. “On the day we parade, it’s magical, fantastic. People come, the street is packed but this year we won’t have this. We feel a void, people say something is missing,” said a person involved with a group of bate-bolas for the last 31 years. Image via The Associated Press/Bruna Prado
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A member of the “Desliga da Justica” — the name is a Portuguese language play on “Justice League” — street band gets dressed in his spiderman costume in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Sunday, 14 February 2021. The group’s performance was broadcast live on social media for those who were unable to participate in the carnival due to COVID restrictions after the city’s government officially suspended Carnival and banned street parades or clandestine parties. Image via The Associated Press/Bruna Prado
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Musicians of the “Desliga da Justica” street band perform in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Sunday. The group featured in costumes of Supergirl, Freddy Krueger, Poison Ivy and Captain America and they kicked off, into a song. That idiosyncratic lineup is a typical sort of lineup for the Carnival street band Desliga da Justica, but this year they were facing cameras in a studio and the fans were scattered across the internet instead of dancing in the streets during one of the world’s most iconic celebrations. Image via The Associated Press/Bruna Prado
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This year, all members of the band took a PCR test for coronavirus on Sunday when they arrived at studio in the south of Rio. Desliga has been holding the parties since 2009 and the gatherings have been growing ever since. Image via The Associated Press/Bruna Prado
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One of the biggest street party associations, Blocos da Sebastiana, this year organized workshops on Carnival makeup and instruments and offered playlists of their music. “We would like to be partying on the street but we can’t.” said Rita Fernandes, president of Blocos da Sebastian. “Streamed shows are important, but symbolic. They bring us memories of Carnival and reaffirm what it means to us." Image via The Associated Press/Bruna Prado
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