Brazil: Rio de Janeiro will have at least 80 Carnaval blocks for a fee

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Rio de Janeiro City will have at least 80 private Carnaval blocks next week. These events began on Thursday, February 24, and will run until Friday, March 3. In January, Mayor Eduardo Paes canceled the street Carnaval but maintained the blocks that charge an entry fee.

The city argues that, unlike street blocks, paid parties may require proof of vaccination. Traditional blocks will promote many events in Rio, such as Afroreggae, Cordão do Bola Preta, and Monobloco. Prices change according to the lots and cost between R$20 (US$3.90) and R$180 (US$35).

Samba schools also organized closed parties. Mangueira, for example, is selling tickets for rehearsals at the samba school’s court on Friday, February 25, and Saturday, February 26. Prices vary from R$40 to R$1,200.

In the Center-South Zone alone, there will be 67 private blocks. This region is also the one with the warmest hotel sector, with about 80% of rooms occupied, according to a survey by the Brazilian Association of the Hotel Industry (Abih). The city registers, so far, 78% of hotel occupancy.

Rio’s City Hall’s decision on the cancellation of street Carnaval was made in January, taking into account the epidemiological data of that month. AMid the omicron variant, the state reached an alleged record of 26,000 daily positive cases. After the suspension of the street blocks, the samba school parades were postponed to April.

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