Interrupted by the pandemic, 780 days later, Carnival returns to Sapucaí

Finally, the siren will sound at 9 pm this Wednesday (20), announcing to the world that, 780 days later, the Carnival of Samba Schools is back and the Marquis of Sapucai will gain color, with a new face and plans for the future.

Postponed by the pandemic, the parades are now going to the street after months of intense debates and negotiations not always simple behind the scenes of Independent League of Samba Schools (Liesa) and in the relationship with the public power.

With no feathers and a prominent place in the allegories, occasionally wielding a peal in his pumped social networks, the League’s marketing director, Gabriel David and one of the main articulators, spoke with the CNNspoke about news, the relationship between the party and the misdemeanor and the pandemic.

Son of Anísio Abraham Davidhonorary president and patron of the Hummingbird of Nilópolis, David is 24 years old and sat at the table to try to change the face of Carnival with septuagenarians and octogenarians who for years have dictated the course of the party. “No institution has as big a generation gap as Liesa”, he says. Here are the main snippets of the conversation.

CNN: Whoever arrives to watch Em Cima da Hora (the school that opens the shows of the Ouro series this Wednesday) will find what’s different?

Gabriel David: It has two very different points: the lighting of the avenue is very different, and the entire food and beverage operation is modified. In the past, cafeterias bought a space and did what they wanted: they had a brand of hamburger, pizza, everything. Not now: it is a food supplier only, which will carry the Rio Carnaval brand. Now all schools will earn from the sale of food and drink. It’s more organized, it will be better for the viewer.

At Carnival, in fact, in February, the only empty place in town was Sapucaí, and we still lived in Ômicron. That’s because we had crowded blocks around the city and several parties held. Was it worth postponing?

Yes. On February 27, Rio had the peak of deaths in the wave caused by Ômicron, it was the middle of Carnival. That would be very negative, but we suffer because this is the price of success. We paid the price in public opinion for the smaller events that were in fact all free. Today, we are much more confident that we are in a normal environment. There were parties, but look at the age group of those who parade: there are Bahia, old guard. Today we are safer.

How was the relationship with the League of São Paulo? The schools of the special group of the two cities parade on the same day. Has this harmed those who work in associations?

They tried to overlap with the Rio Carnival, it was a strategic mistake for them to put the special group on the same day as ours. Now you hear little about the São Paulo Carnival. When the pandemic prevented Carnival in 2021 and 2022, what was the image released to the world? Sapucaí is empty. We have to work for the street Carnival, in São Paulo, to be big as a whole.

How to act in marketing and try to change an institution – Liesa – that was founded by criminals and changes the rules of the game, with the tables turned?

We have plenty of art, audiences – that we need to rejuvenate – and we are on a technological path. We are getting less archaic. Tickets were sold by fax, today we accept pix, credit card. We have our own brand, we achieved a very good digital insertion. But it is a fact that Liesa lost credibility with these table changes (change in the final result of the parade, with an impediment to relegation of schools from the Special Group to the Gold Series).

Can I say that the era of turning the tables is over at Liesa?

It’s not up to me. But I truly believe that will never happen again.

The animal game, the misdemeanor commanding the destinies of schools, parades and the League. Is this era over too?

If Carnival is today the size it is, the global prominence that it gains especially from the 1990s onwards, this is due to misdemeanor. All this visibility comes from a serious and very well done work on behalf of the sambista. But today is another society, another time. You can’t erase what was done in the past, but today you need people totally focused on Carnival.

Can schools support themselves without money from offenders?

Long time. Schools do a magnificent job in communities, with extensive social work – that’s their reason for being. Products are sold throughout the year. My job is to strengthen them with new products – the mini-parades we did to mark the opening of Carnival, for example, are from this reality. And they return in 2023, to open Carnival in the city.

You “bomb” on social networks and relate to many famous people, many people who are not samba, including. Does this cause fear?

One of my main goals is to rejuvenate the League and introduce Carnival to new audiences. That’s why we need a language closer to the younger generations, have a strong digital insertion and get a speech against those who still criticize Carnival.

When you arrived at Liesa, you gave an interview suggesting changing the place of the parades and ending linearity, this idea of ​​the school following an order while on the avenue. Still think the same?

The objective is not necessarily to relocate the Sambadrome, but to improve it. These are ideas that are put in the League. We still have a lot to improve in this regard. I need to worry about the Sambadrome. It is an area of ​​the city hall and Eduardo Paes did works this year, but there is still a lot to be done so that he is prepared. Today, as it is, space limits the capacity of the carnival artist and his art.

What did you need to improve?

I wish I had made more radical changes to ticket sales and generated more digital content. But because of Ômicron, nobody wanted to be associated with Carnival. I wish I had switched all League event formats. Little by little, we fight day by day. I have to try to change everything, to get the bare minimum and strengthen the schools.

You are openly Beija-Flor, and there’s no way you couldn’t be. Doesn’t it arouse suspicion that, behind the scenes, you can give your school a helping hand?

I’ve always made it very clear, as a Beija-Flor fan, that all schools are doing well. May my school be the champion every year, but the others are very strong, making their best carnivals. I fight for it. And if I have to harm one to make all the others stronger, I will. And it already happened.

How?

Beija-Flor and Mangueira are the ones with the most fans, and have always sold their products. Smaller schools couldn’t take shirts, cups, anything. A São Clemente fan, for example, went to cheer and couldn’t find a shirt. Not now: we are going to sell products from all schools, with equal conditions for all.