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Carnival in Brazil draws hundreds of thousands of revelers As many as 850,000 tourists descend on Rio de Janeiro for the five-day-long Carnival celebration.
Feb. 21, 2012
Dancers of Mangueira samba school parade during carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro.
Victor R. Caivano
/
AP
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Feb. 21, 2012
A dancer of Mangueira samba school waves from atop a float during carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro.
Victor R. Caivano
/
AP
Feb. 21, 2012
The Mangueira samba school parades during carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome.
Victor R. Caivano
/
AP
Feb. 20, 2012
A dancer of Sao Clemente samba school parades on a float during carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome.
Victor R. Caivano
/
AP
Feb. 20, 2012
A dancer performs on a float with a statue that resembles the Statue of Liberty during Sao Clemente samba school’s carnival parade at the Sambadrome.
Victor R. Caivano
/
AP
Feb. 21, 2012
A performer parades atop a float of Unidos da Tijuca samba school during carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome. Nearly 100,000 paying spectators turn out for the all-night spectacle at the Sambadrome.
Victor R. Caivano
/
AP
Feb. 20, 2012
Revelers dance during Porto da Pedra samba school’s parade at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro. Millions watched the sequin-clad samba dancers at Rio de Janeiro's iconic Carnival parade.
Victor R. Caivano
/
AP
Feb. 20, 2012
Rio’s star is rising of late, as the city prepares to host the final matches of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.
Silvia Izquierdo
/
AP
Feb. 20, 2012
This year’s Carnival was forecast to be an even bigger blowout than usual, with 20 percent more tourists expected than in 2011.
Victor R. Caivano
/
AP
Feb. 20, 2012
A dancer performs atop a float during Vila Isabel samba school parade at the Sambadrome during carnival celebrations in Rio de Janeiro.
Victor R. Caivano
/
AP
Feb. 20, 2012
Rio officials say they were also better prepared to keep the chaos under some semblance of control, with more portable toilets, traffic guards and paramedics, as well as a new central command center monitoring it all.
Silvia Izquierdo
/
AP
Feb. 20, 2012
“It’s a matter of organization and comfort; we’re thinking of the partiers, but also of the residents,” said the president of Rio’s tourism department, Antonio Figueira de Mello, adding that the city will welcome 3 million visitors this summer, about 850,000 of them during the raucous free-for-all.
Silvia Izquierdo
/
AP
Feb. 20, 2012
The celebration has proved immune to the crisis devastating economies in Europe and the U.S., said Mello. “There is no crisis that can take down Carnival.”
Silvia Izquierdo
/
AP
Feb. 20, 2012
The festivities also signal a return to normality for Rio and Salvador, the capital of the northeastern state of Bahia, after police strikes raised fears that the parties might be ruined by rampant crime.
Silvia Izquierdo
/
AP
Feb. 19, 2012
In Rio, merrymakers are expected to spend $640 million and generate 250,000 jobs, most temporary and in the tourism and services industries, during Carnival alone, according to the city’s economic development department. But the world’s biggest party traditionally leaves a hangover to match: Last year, the romp left about 850 tons of trash strewn around town.
Victor R. Caivano
/
AP
Feb. 20, 2012
Rio officials dispatched 80 mobile medical emergency units, 1,000 traffic guards and 15,000 toilets across the city, and officials are running a campaign against urinating in public.
Victor R. Caivano
/
AP
Feb. 20, 2012
Rio residents are humming along with a catchy samba tune running on TV, telling partiers, “If you want to pee, don’t do it here, don’t do it here,” which rhymes in Portuguese.
Victor R. Caivano
/
AP
Feb. 20, 2012
For tech-savvy revelers, Rio launched a smartphone app, free for iPhones and Androids, that tells visitors in English, Spanish or Portuguese where to go for blocos, the mobile samba bands that draw millions, pied-piper style, through the streets, as well as basic information on public transit, eateries and museums.
Victor R. Caivano
/
AP
Feb. 20, 2012
Brazil’s federal aviation authority expects 3 million people to shuttle in and out of airports during Carnival week, 13 percent more than last year.
Victor R. Caivano
/
AP
Feb. 20, 2012
Airports taking in visitors will also have 30 percent more federal police, and workers with vests asking “May I help you?” will be circulating to take care of last-minute questions.
Victor R. Caivano
/
AP
Feb. 20, 2012
Helping the notoriously gridlocked city tackle the street closures, mass gatherings and parading parties is Rio’s new central command center, which the city hopes will keep order when Rio hosts the 2014 World Cup matches and the 2016 Olympics. It has been fully operational since November, but this is the first big test of its ability to keep the city running during a large event.
Victor R. Caivano
/
AP
Feb. 20, 2012
Center director Savio Franco said he hopes all this planning will make it a cinch to maintain control of Carnival. “There will be more than 5,000 city government workers involved in making this party go as smoothly as possible for cariocas and for the tourists,” Franco said.
Victor R. Caivano
/
AP
Feb. 20, 2012
As millions watched the sequin-clad samba dancers at Rio de Janeiro’s iconic Carnival parade Sunday, at least a few eyes turned toward the stars, or at least toward the VIP boxes hosting celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez and Fergie.
Victor R. Caivano
/
AP
Feb. 20, 2012
The Carnival parade has been attracting top celebrities for much of its 80 years. Many are brought in by attention-hungry Brazilian advertisers hoping to share some of the glow of the world’s biggest party.
Victor R. Caivano
/
AP
Feb. 20, 2012
Recent guests at the two-day-long parade have included Madonna, Beyonce, Jude Law, Paris Hilton, Pamela Anderson and Kevin Spacey.
Silvia Izquierdo
/
AP
Feb. 20, 2012
Spectators at the Sambadrome were split over the presence of celebrities at Carnival. “I honestly couldn’t care less if there are famous people or not,” said Monica Linsay, a 23-year-old university student at the Sambadrome for the first time. “I don’t care about marketing ploys. I’m here to watch the parade.”
Silvia Izquierdo
/
AP
Feb. 20, 2012
And there is much to watch: samba soloists who shake into overdrive as soon as the cameras turn on them; dancers dressed as Teletubbies on drugs; ambulatory American flags; psychedelic flamingos, complete with stilt legs; vertically challenged jokers brandishing jumbo soccer balls; belly dancers. And that was just one single samba school.
Victor R. Caivano
/
AP
Feb. 20, 2012
A man rests on litter-filled stands at the end of the first day of carnival parades at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro.
Victor R. Caivano
/
AP
Feb. 18, 2012
Revelers kiss during the Cordao da Bola Preta carnival parade in downtown Rio de Janeiro.
Victor R. Caivano
/
AP
Feb. 18, 2012
Thousands of people gathered Saturday to march with one of Rio's most popular and traditional blocos or parade groups, created in the early 1900s and believed to be named for a beautiful woman in a black and white polka-dot dress.
Victor R. Caivano
/
AP
Feb. 17, 2012
Performers rehearse at the Sambadrome parade grounds in Rio de Janeiro. The globe's biggest Carnival bash opened Friday, with an estimated 850,000 tourists in attendance for the five-day-event, running from Feb. 17-21.
Silvia Izquierdo
/
AP
Feb. 18, 2012
People covered in mud walk during the "Bloco da Lama" or "Mud Block" carnival parade in Parati, Brazil.
Felipe Dana
/
AP
Feb. 18, 2012
A reveler sings during the Cordao da Bola Preta carnival parade in downtown Rio de Janeiro.
Victor R. Caivano
/
AP
Feb. 18, 2012
Revelers dance during the Cordao da Bola Preta carnival parade in downtown Rio de Janeiro.
Victor R. Caivano
/
AP
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