Brazil holds first carnival since pandemic
Rio de Janeiro's carnival, a glittering, sequin-studded festival of the flesh, exploded back to life yesterday with the first famed samba school parades since Covid-19 started devastating Brazil.
After two long years, a flood of dancers and drummers reclaimed the iconic beach city's "Sambadrome," its dedicated carnival parade venue, which had been turned into a drive-through vaccination center at the height of the health crisis.
The all-night parades by the city's top samba schools are the first since February 2020, marking a turning point for hard-hit Brazil, where Covid-19 has claimed more than 660,000 lives, second only to the United States.
"I'm just so happy. I think a lot of people are going to cry when the parades start, including me," said Ana Vieira, a 48-year-old geography teacher, who was dressed in a giant, sparkling white costume awaiting her turn to parade for the Imperatriz samba school.
https://www.rte.ie/news/world/2022/0423/1293852-rio-de-janeiro-carnival/
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