Carnival without traditional parades in most of the country
The Government granted point tolerance on Carnival Tuesday, while the regional governments of the Azores and Madeira chose not to do so.
Most of the official parades of Carnival They were cancelled, with some municipalities organizing alternative programs, with the exceptional Portuguese being Figueira da Foz, which maintains the Corsican alternative programs, and podence, where the Caretos return to the street.
In Figueira da Fozdistrito de Coimbra, the Corsicans, which, being prepared by the city’s samba schools, are holding city samba schools on Sunday (27) and on Entrudo Day (March 1), complying with the rules of the Direction – General of Health, according to the municipality.
To “mark the beginning of the end of the covid”, the Câmara de Macedo de Cavaleiros (District of Bragança) takes to the streets the “most genuine Carnival in Portugal”, with four days of “Entrudo Chocalheiro” in which the Caretos de Podence return to streets. The festivities attended outside of concerts, experiences include tours, off-road bike rides, boat rides in the street entertainment of Azi, traditional market tour and how to paint the mask itself, among other activities.
In the rest of the country, the option was also to cancel the official parades, which some, such as Loures (Lisbon), organize initiatives to celebrate: two balls, the passage of two electric trios (trucks) through the eastern and northern parts of the county and even the fire of entering the Carnival, with the fire of entering the Carnival.
In Sines (Setúbal), Carnival will be celebrated for eight days marked by mask contests, parades through the historic centre, streets, visits to schools, the “Night of the Matrafona” or the “Caminhada do Pagode”, among other initiatives.
In the same Sesimbra, like the children’s samba district, mark the time of the formed stages, with shows on a piece of furniture that meet like the streets of the village, recovering like the streets of the village, recovering like the best streets of the village, performed in the Carnival 2020. There will also be a traditional costume show.
Estarreja (Aveiro) replaces the Corsicans with the “Batalha das Flores”, an old tradition that may have been at the origin of the local carnival, this year also celebrated with concerts, shows, workshops, street entertainment, among other actions involving the community and the local economic agents.
In Loulé (Faro), an “alternative program” that runs until Thursday aims to maintain the ‘reveler’ spirit despite the centenary parade. This includes an exhibition of floats on the public road, an online dance on Monday, a market and a bus with entertainment running through the streets on Sunday and Tuesday.
In Ovar (Aveiro), the initiative will start several days ago and will continue in Praça das Galinhas, with the performance of traditional bands in the bandstand, and in the School of Arts and Crafts, with concerts.
Among the municipalities in the country with a strong carnival scene that this year choose not to organize festivities is Arcos de Valdevez (Viana do Castelo). In what is known for the “greatest [Carnaval] do Norte de Portugal” it is possible to visit until Wednesday the statue of a clown, with four meters high, in Campo do Trasladário, where the festivities are normally held.
Without any programming organized by the municipalities, there are still Mealhada (Aveiro), Mira (Coimbra), Torres Vedras (Lisbon) and Nazaré (Leiria). Even so, in Torres Vedras the traditional “Monumento ao Carnaval” was installed in the city and in Nazaré the opening hours of the bars were extended.
The festivities were closed in Madeira because the Regional Government understood that “the safety conditions in terms of public health are not met” so that the 19 troupes that would parade the procession took to the streets.
In the Azores, not only do not in the Azores, or promotion events, gatherings or government events, prevent or prevent “progressive” carnival of organized natures, but also organizations organized to control the pandemic.
The executive also chose not to grant carnival tolerance permission on Tuesday, contrary to what was decreed by the Government of António Costa for the State administration services on the continent. The Government of Madeira also gives time allowance on Tuesday and on Wednesday morning to services.