Even with the acceptance and advance of vaccination in Brazil, which has allowed the return of events that carry out large agglomerations based on specific restrictions on safety protocols in relation to Covid-19, a variant Omicron turned on the yellow light for the holiday season and the Carnival of next year.
Although the lethality of the variant is still not a concern and that most Brazilians have already taken the two doses of the vaccine, there is a possibility of new variants emerging, which makes producers and entrepreneurs be extra cautious in events that bring together a large number of people.
So much so that city halls and governments across the country are already canceling the end-of-year festivities and considering the possibility of not having Carnival for the second year in a row. CNN heard some of these professionals about restricting the holding of these popular festivals in the coming months.
Gilberto Gil and Expresso 2222
“We just arrived from Europe, after two years being kept at home. We resumed a tour of Europe that should have started in March 2020, and we played 20 shows in 50 days. We are now going to Sala São Paulo, with the Orchestra, with a reduced audience, and then Salvador, where we spend Christmas and New Year – without even thinking about performing. In January, we will have open-air festivals that are not free, with vaccination card checking…Both producers and artists have responsibility on both sides. The pandemic is not over and the agglomeration multiplies the disease. And Carnival is ‘the’ summer agglomeration in Brazil. You can’t have a party where you ask the reveler to wear a mask. Revelers want to drink beer, kiss on the mouth, want jinx. We are not doing the masked carnival in Venice in winter. Maybe they preferred to cancel New Year’s Eve to try to make Carnival… It could be a way to gain strength to make Carnival – perhaps this is the reasoning of some governors and mayors. I believe that the more rigor, judgment and responsibility we have now, we will reap further ahead. You can’t kick the bucket. We are only going ahead with the hiring when we are sure of the contractor’s seriousness in relation to both the artists’ and the audience’s health. We already do away with invitations to concerts and closed parties, because for us it doesn’t matter. There has to be respect, I have for my life and I have to have for the lives of others, that’s why I don’t know if there will be Carnival in Brazil, but Expresso 2222 won’t come out, I guarantee you.”
Flora Gil, businesswoman, producer and wife of Gilberto Gil, organizes the Expresso 2222 electric trio
Molotov cocktail
“The Molotov Cocktail was the first independent festival to hold a face-to-face edition, so we felt the responsibility and it was very important to strictly follow all the required protocols. To enter the festival, it was mandatory to present a vaccination card – with two doses or one dose and a negative PCR test, in addition to the obligation to wear a mask inside the theater. It was amazing to understand that it is possible to go back safely. Therefore, I was super positive with the realization of Carnival, but that expectation has been decreasing in recent weeks. The country is making progress with the vaccination campaign, but we still have a very large number of people who have not taken their second dose. I believe that the combination of vaccinated and immunized is proving to be effective, as the numbers of hospitalized people have decreased a lot, but it is risky to carry out an agglomeration the size of Carnival. The new variant already proves to be super contagious and less lethal, but we will probably have several variants going forward. It seems to be wiser just to think about a Carnival in 2023. This will be very tragic for our market, not having Carnival for the second year is a huge financial loss for artists and tourism. I imagine that private parties will take place, but this does not represent popular manifestations, nor does it move artists, producers and technical teams in the same way.”
Ana Garcia, organizer of the Pernambucan festival Coquetel Molotov
Block The Spectacular Charanga do França, São Paulo
“From the beginning, the city hall of São Paulo made it clear in the registration of the blocks that Carnival would only be held if it was viable from a sanitary point of view, and it is in this spirit that I am preparing Charanga, to go out if I can. I was finding it strange that now, in December, there is greater concern with Carnival at the end of February than with New Year’s Eve, which takes place in less than a month, but this has to do with the strong political element that Carnival carries and that New Year’s Eve it does not have. In addition to the pandemic, it is important to understand that there are political decisions being made disguised as a health concern, such as, for example, cities canceling Carnival without ever having an event. It is essential to remember that conservative sectors of society are openly against the party, and this decision speaks directly to the electorate in an election year. Even in cities that are famous for Carnival, this has been vetoing public events and allowing private ones, which is an old fight between those who do Carnival and those who economically take advantage of the party. And in that sense, the pandemic has become a golden opportunity to give in to pressure from the sponsoring brands.”
Thiago França, organizer of the block from São Paulo A Espetacular Charanga do França
Salvador Productions
“We have excellent expectations for this year’s New Year’s Eve, private events are selling well and we will have a fantastic New Year’s Eve, to forget about the pandemic issue. With faith in God we will have a better year, 2022 will come with a lot of light. For next year’s Carnival, the expectation is that we will have private events, as there will be no street Carnival. Private events will be an alternative for the public who will come to Salvador. It is now more than proven that events that charge the second dose of the vaccine are super safe. The vaccination itself is coming very strong and very well accepted by our country. We do not understand the reason for not holding large events, obviously as long as the second dose is required. Normal life, life that goes on for all vaccinated people, with practically zero risk of something happening to that person. We have to carry out the big events, as they are happening in football stadiums and also in several other states, and here it can’t be different. We don’t think it’s dangerous because medicine itself, science itself is finding that after two or three doses of vaccines, it doesn’t get any type of variant. Thank God this last variant still has no proof of lethal advance, only contagion, and with mass vaccination we don’t see any possibility of going back and having some kind of situation that prohibits New Year’s Eve and Carnival. We think it’s super rash not to see any kind of lethal situation and thus prevent people from having a great New Year’s Eve and a great Carnival. But we are awaiting the decisions of the governors and the responsible persons responsible for taking this decision.”
Marcelo Britto, CEO of Salvador Produções and president of the Bahia branch of the Brazilian Association of Event Promoters
Rec Beat, Recife
“Rec Beat always takes place during Carnival and we have already started to plan the 2022 edition. But in recent days, news of this new strain of the coronavirus has come and, in Recife, those protocols are determined by the state government. And they have already given the warning sign saying that they will only talk about Carnival in early January. We are in expectation. Analyzing the trend in relation to New Year’s Eve, it is very likely that restrictions on Carnival will come. Therefore, I am continuing to prospect for bands, for an open festival, as we always do, receiving 15 to 20 thousand people a day, in what would be the 26th edition of the festival. But I do a closed event on January 21, a partnership between Rec Beat and the Odara party, with a show by Marina Sena as an anchor. I would love to do the festival as usual, but we are finding the possibility of staying another year without having Carnival in its entirety. That’s why I’m thinking about a plan B, which is to make a closed Rec Beat, smaller, in case we can’t do this open edition.”
Antonio Gutierrez, Gutie, organizer of the Rec Beat festival from Pernambuco
Radioca, Bahia
“I think it’s prudent, unfortunately, not to have New Year’s Eve and Carnival. New Year’s Eve is already on its way, it’s less than a month old and it doesn’t have the slightest condition to gather so many people. Brazil is fine, in a much more comfortable situation, but we don’t know what will happen in two or three months. I see a lot of people comparing football concerts and stadiums with Carnival, but nothing can compare with Carnival. Carnival is millions of people on the street at the same time, people from different places circulating, foreigners and tourists from all corners in an environment that no one will care for. It is an environment of drinking, fluid exchange, sweating and crowding. It is inevitable that there is no proper care, there are millions of people, a much more uncontrollable crowd. And even the shows and big events that are coming back should be more careful. I’m feeling people aren’t being careful, it looks like the pandemic is over. I went to events with a lot of people and most of the people weren’t even wearing masks and artists encouraging exchanging kisses, exchanging hugs. I think that attention is needed not to make the situation worse. We’re getting better, with 2022 it looks like there’s going to be a return of concerts and festivals, but we can’t stop taking care now. It doesn’t make much sense to hold events on the scale of New Year’s Eve and Carnival.”
Luciano Matos, organizer of the Bahia Radioca festival
Ritaleena Block, São Paulo
“I don’t know if you can build an expectation, because every week this expectation is broken, but the whole process has been very exhausting, complex and frustrating. Of all the Carnivals Ritaleena has done, this one is without a doubt the most difficult. With the new variant, the entire planning of Carnival by the blocks was shot down. Blocks that need funding, such as Ritaleena, are having problems with brands, which are very afraid of sponsoring Carnival blocks and we understand why. And we don’t have a date to define this, it’s all up in the air. It’s very frustrating. I think the city hall will give a position but a month in advance and what’s left for the blocks is the crossroads of getting the block’s circus up, planning everything and paying for everything in one month? If you can, parade. Otherwise, it’s difficult. The solution is closed events, which take the street out of the picture, which for democratic parties is terrible, even with a conservative rhetoric that will roll over and over. What we have been thinking is that everyone keeps saying that there will or will not be Carnival, but now we think there will be and there will not be: there will be Carnival and this non-Carnival happening simultaneously.”
Alessa Camarinha, organizer of the São Paulo block Ritaleena
Reference: CNN Brasil
