Special Group parades over three nights share the opinions of experts and school members | The Day in the Folia

Sambódromo will have Special Group parades on three nights from 2025Disclosure / Riotur

Published 07/05/2024 17:14

Rio – The decision by the Independent League of Samba Schools in Rio (Liesa) to increase the Special Group parades to three days divided the opinions of members of the associations, Carnival experts and journalists who cover Sapucaí, in addition to generating intense debates on the networks social. From 2025, the 12 schools will perform between Sunday and Tuesday, four per night. The event will also gain attractions after the components have passed, such as samba shows.

In addition, grandstand tickets will be subject to a price reduction. According to the new regulations, the judges will close their scores at the end of each night. Before, they only needed to launch them definitively after the last association. The changes were approved by the presidents of each school on Monday night (6), at Liesa headquarters.

Experienced carnival artist Mauro Quintaes, who has worked in Salgueiro, Mangueira and Porto da Pedra, among others, commented on the news in an interview with DAY. “We are facing one of the biggest changes in these 40 years of Sapucaí. A big change in carnival habits. This involves the public, the press itself, the logistics of travel and mainly, this issue of judging. The impact of making tickets cheaper needs to be well analyzed. Whoever watches one day, ok. And who likes to watch all three? We have to understand to what extent this will be cheapened”, he argued.

Journalist, writer and Carnival commentator Fábio Fabato pointed out problems and Liesa’s lack of debate with the samba community to make a decision. “My fear is that, in the eagerness to ‘camarotize’ the parade, the schools will become supporting actors in the show itself. A decision taken hastily, without debate with samba dancers and extremely poorly communicated. Since 1984, there has not been anything so traumatic in the sense of structural change to Carnival. More dialogue was needed”. According to him, the concept of “dawn into the party” was also damaged: “The two days were talking to each other, since carnival is a competition. Now, they seem like disconnected shows.”

Veteran interpreter Neguinho da Beija-Flor welcomed the news. “I think the idea is wonderful. We have the biggest popular festival on the planet in the open air. It’s the parade of the samba schools in Rio de Janeiro. It takes place on Sunday and Monday, but what about Tuesday? The biggest spectacle parade ends in two days? I thought it was a wonderful idea,” he said.

The award-winning Selminha Sorriso, flag bearer of Beija-Flor, proposes a hopeful look at the topic. “We’ll have to wait and see if it will work. It’s an innovation, which causes people some questions. But I really believe it will work. Then, fans, partners, investors are involved… Let’s wait and hope” , she said.

Manoel Dionísio, founder of the oldest social project that trains master-sala and flag-bearer couples in Rio, also spoke. “Everything that Liesa does to enhance Carnival and without harming the samba singer, who is already being harmed, I’m in agreement. Anything to increase the event is good. But my dissatisfaction that the samba singer is being removed .”

The journalist and coordinator of Rádio Arquibancada, Anderson Baltar, considered the decision to be hasty, “without any kind of public debate”. “I find it extremely exclusionary. Many people work on Ash Wednesday, many school members work. The structure of the city will be compromised. Many people who work on Ash Wednesday will need to travel and there will still be floats on the street. I think which is a decision taken purely for commercial interests, ticket sales and TV broadcasting, and Carnival’s target audience, especially the people, was not consulted and will be harmed”, he stated.

Marcelo Missailidis, Mocidade Independente’s new choreographer, approved it. “I am in favor, mainly because I believe that this initiative, in addition to enabling an increase in box office revenue on Carnival nights, favors the entire macroeconomic sense of the city, the hotel chain, commerce. The nights for the public are in a format that was more manageable. Before, they were excessively long. For the audience that arrived at the beginning and lasted until the show ended, practically at 5am, it was exhausting. Schools that planned to parade at night have to do so at dawn, which often makes the entire project unfeasible.”

Rachel Valença, writer, researcher and member of the Velha Guarda do Império Serrano, is against changing the traditional schedule. “The changes announced by Liesa caused me a lot of sadness. What shook me was realizing that the entity representing samba schools thinks it is necessary to reduce the number of schools per night to make room for an attraction. I always thought that on those magical nights the attraction were the samba schools. And I was proud to see that people from all over Brazil and even from other countries traveled to watch this ‘sui generis’ celebration of life. I see now that the leaders have a different vision. there is an attraction… This is very revolting”, he complained.

Experienced composer Cláudio Russo, winner of sambas at Portela, Beija-Flor, Viradouro and many other associations, said that he eagerly awaits the final definition of the format for each night. “At first, I was scared to have an attraction closing the parade. I think the biggest attraction are the schools themselves. But have you ever thought about if one day there was a Zeca Pagodinho show, the next day, Belo and Exaltasamba, and on another day Alcione? That would be good. We need to wait. The new always comes and the new brings change. At this moment, this change is seen with concern. I think we need to mature the ideas and understand the proposals.

In a post on social media, history professor, writer and popular culture researcher Luiz Antonio Simas disapproved of the change. “Three days, only four schools per day, with ‘attractions’ to keep the public on the Avenue afterwards. The samba schools are on their way to becoming supporting actors in their own parades”, he lamented.

Nilcemar Nogueira, founder of the Samba Museum and former municipal secretary of Culture, expressed concern about how the children’s parades will be relocated, as they took place precisely on Carnival Tuesday. “I’m worried about the movement of children, on which day they will parade. They are the future of our Carnival. There needs to be a lot of concern about this. I don’t think taking them after the Special Schools. The parades will be on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. What about the children? This worries me, since we have Friday and Saturday with the Access group”, he stated.

President of Liesa speaks out on social media

On his Instagram profile, Liesa’s new president, Gabriel David, spoke about the decision. “Today, changing the Sambadrome’s lighting directly affects two aspects: the allegories and costumes. When this happens and a school has to parade in daylight, it loses the direct impact that the light has, and this affects the result. We cannot allow this to have a chance to happen. This is the main reason for the change: to preserve competition and maintain an identical scenario for all schools.” The director also cited the economic impact that the new development will bring to the city, causing tourists to stay in Rio longer.

Gabriel also guaranteed that after the change, the price of tickets will decrease. “We needed to have a greater number of tickets for a greater number of people to watch. It’s a way of further democratizing going to the Sambadrome. With three days, we have this possibility. Since not even the city hall can carry out works to, in fact, increasing the Sambadrome is a way we found to have a greater number of tickets available so that more people can be at Carnival”, he explained.

Impact on the hotel chain

The change will have a direct impact on the hotel chain and tourism. This is the vision of the president of the HotéisRio union, Alfredo Lopes. “The division of the Rio Carnival Special Group parades into three days was an old request from the hotel industry as it will allow an increase in the number of tourists staying in the city, benefiting the entire chain, from hotels to restaurants. In addition, a greater number of days allows spectators to better enjoy the party, held at more suitable times, both for spectators and for the groups themselves, adding more quality to the show.”

When contacted, the State government and city hall did not comment on the changes until the report was completed. The space is open for positioning.

Collaborated: Raphael Perucci