Rio councilors are proposing that Carnival be postponed to mid-year

“The variant brought the need to rethink a series of protocols. The vaccine passport remains an essential measure, but it is not enough to stop the spread of the virus, which has increased its circulation exponentially”, he declared.

“By canceling carnival events where it is not possible to collect the vaccination passport and keeping parties in closed events, we run the risk of contributing to a carnival where only those who pay the ticket can participate in the dance“, he explained.

Tarcísio pointed out that he did not consider “at any time Sapucaí a ‘elite carnival’ and the blocos as ‘popular carnival’”. “This false opposition makes no sense. All the proposals that we have produced over the last 5 years show that we know that the danger of elitism is much more complex”, he declared.

“The problem of the elitization, privatization and commodification of carnival has been posed for decades and we face this debate in the reports of the Carnival Commission, built from audiences with associations, specialists in theme and the government. The difficult solutions for Carnival in times of a pandemic necessarily involve looking at public health (in the first place) and ensuring that our greatest cultural manifestation occurs in its diversity”, he declared.

Criticisms to the proposal

The writer Leonardo Antan , cultural producer, researcher and member of the Carnavalize portal – which produces content about the carnival throughout the year -, was one of those who criticized the idea of ​​postponing the party for 50 days, despite considering that the discussion on health safety is essential. For him, “Carnival is part of our cultural formation and our identity, it is an event that involves artistic aspects and moves thousands of direct and indirect jobs”, but ends up being treated as an “event superfluous” by many.

“The proposal to postpone Carnival involves a serious and honest debate. Of course, nobody defends the carnival in an upward curve of infected people, but vaccination coverage and other protocols can guarantee a safe event as far as possible. If there is only one cancellation of the street revelry, but dances and private events for the general public are still allowed, it is just an elitization of the party to meet commercial interests. Carnival is part of Brazilian identity, it involves a series of manifestations that complement each other and have a popular origin, from blocks to samba schools, they are institutions that are important social centers and are beyond their festive character, they are associations of artists from different areas”, he told Fórum.

“Carnival has a look different from other manifestations and events, especially from conservative and moralist sectors of society because it is a popular party, which brings together groups of mostly black origin. Thus, the party is attacked both by an elite and by religious issues in the periphery from the advance of neo-Pentecostal religions”, he declared.

“The postponement of the carnival 50 days before the event is quite harmful to thousands of workers and artists who depend on the party and have been without their main financial activity for two years. And all this doesn’t just involve Sapucaí, there are more than 50 schools that parade in Intendente Magalhães, and other carnival groups, such as bate-bolas, which move the city’s economy”, he added.