COVID-19 delays Rio's Carnival for first time in a century
RIO DE JANEIRO — Rio de Janeiro delayed its annual Carnival parade, saying Thursday night that the global spectacle cannot go ahead in February because of Brazil’s continued vulnerability to the pandemic.
Rio’s League of Samba Schools, LIESA, announced that the spread of the coronavirus has made it impossible to safely hold the traditional parades that are a cultural mainstay and, for many, a source of livelihood.
“Carnival is a party upon which many humble workers depend. The samba schools are community institutions, and the parades are just one detail of all that,” said Luiz Antonio Simas, a historian who specializes in Rio’s Carnival. “An entire cultural and productive chain was disrupted by COVID.”
Rio’s City Hall has yet to announce a decision about the Carnival street parties that also take place across the city. But its tourism promotion agency said in a statement to The Associated Press on Sept. 17 that without a coronavirus vaccine, it is uncertain when large public events can resume.
Read more: https://www.post-gazette.com/news/world/2020/09/25/Virus-delays-Rio-s-Carnival-2021/stories/202009250117
(Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
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