IT’S CARNIVAL time in Rio. The festival started yesterday, though carnival spirits were dampened with a fire three weeks ago that turned the elaborate floats and costumes of three of Rio de Janeiro’s top 12 samba groups to ashes.
Then last week, a far worse incident when 15 revellers were killed by a fallen power cable in the neighbouring state of Minas Gerais.
Among the highlights of this year’s festival are appearances on parade floats by Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen, who will pose as Venus de Milo, and local singing legend Roberto Carlos.
A host of Brazilian soccer stars will join celebrities like Leonardo di Caprio, Jude Law and Pamela Anderson for the carnival which attracts about three-quarters of a million people to Rio each year. This year, police are worried about “flash mobs” – large groups of revellers being mobilised by social media sites like Twitter which have swelled pre-Carnival parties to record numbers on Ipanema and Copacabana beaches.