Editorial
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Carnival may be over but it came so early this year there is still a bit of “summer” to go. Summer in Brazil, being the Southern Hemisphere, is generally December to February – and we just had the Daylight Savings Time change also – but the forecast remains 35° Celsius (95° Fahrenheit) and sunny for the foreseeable future.
The early Carnival is throwing the vibe off in the streets of Rio a bit. It started on February 18th in 2012, but was opened on February 9th, this year. That meant we have the whole rest of February before the Águas de Março (March rains) are due to power-wash the streets and cool the heels of the rambunctious.
Next year Carnival is due to start on March 1st, which fits much easier into the Carioca calendar. It’s not just about the summer heat and party pants, it’s also about tourism and business, but in this respect maybe it lets people get back to work and school sooner.
The month of February was our best month ever in terms of Online Readership. And our February (Carnival) Print edition was our most successful ever as well – so that’s good. What March will bring is yet to be seen, as tourism due to tamper off while business gets back to usual.
Another year of Carnival past and I personally managed to not go to any blocos intentionally (of course I stumbled into some unintentionally), and missed the Sambódromo parades again. It was literally just being too busy to get there, or even get the press passes. Next year, next year we’ll do it right, which means either go see the samba school parades, or escape to some remote place while the city combusts.
The images of Carnival are always amazing though, adding even deeper texture to an already visually stunning city. The government tourism organization (Riotur) has some great photographers and let us use what they have thankfully. As a farewell to Carnival 2013, here is my favorite photo from this year – the winning school Vila Isabel.
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