The Rio carnival kicks off as tens of thousands of revelers jammed the streets of Rio de Janeiro to celebrate the city’s world-renowned carnival, putting aside the violence that has cast a shadow over the city in recent weeks.
Rio’s anthem, the Marvelous City played on as the city Mayor, Cesar Maia kicked off the celebrations Friday, handing over the giant symbolic key to the city to the carnival king Alex de Oliveira Silva (Rei Momo).
I decree the start of Carnival 2007 in the city of Rio!
declared, King Momo for the ninth straight year.
All were asked to forget their woes and enjoy.
However, the main parades start on Sunday but neighborhood groups known as “blocos” began the party on a beachside avenue and in city streets, tying up traffic, across Rio on Friday afternoon. All rushed to the hilltop neighborhood of Santa Teresa to celebrate with the irreverent carnival group Carmelitas, whose members dress up as nuns.
However rising crime, including drug gang battles and last week’s dragging death of 6-year-old Joao Helio Fernandes had put a dent in the celebrations. A well-known leader of the Salgueiro samba school and his wife were slain execution-style after leaving a Carnival rehearsal on Tuesday. Rio is one of the world’s most violent cities, with a homicide rate of around 50 per 100,000.
Although the federal government has sent in special troops to quell the violence, at least 15 people have been killed in shootouts during the past week. Police have deployed some 30,000 officers around the city, including about 5,000 around the Sambadromo.
Brazil’s top 13 samba schools will compete next week in the Sambodrome a stadium built especially for this event. Each of which will field a float, some accompanied by thousands of synchronized dancers variously adorned with enormous headgear, feathers, sequins and little else. Well if you have not managed to travel to Brazil you can watch it live on fashion TV.
Images: Vanderlei Almeida
Source: Reuters
