Better to be safe than sorry, so despite the fact that Omicron may be on the decline in Brazil by the end of February, when carnival should take place, the sensible decision has been taken to delay the main carnival parades in both Rio and São Paulo until the Tiradentes holiday weekend in April.

So the main parades in Rio will now take place on Friday, 22 April and Saturday, 23 April and all tickets purchased for February will be valid.

The move to April may be good for international visitors as few will have booked for February given the global uncertainty with the pandemic.

Imperatriz, Mangueira, Salgueiro, São Clemente, Viradouro and Beija-Flor will parade on the first night with Paraíso do Tuiuti, Portela, Mocidade, Tijuca, Grande Rio and Vila Isabel going on the second night.

The famous theatre in Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Palace Hotel is set to re-open in November 2021 after being totally refurbished.

The theatre first opened its curtains in 1949, but it has been closed for productions since 1994. The first production on re-opening is scheduled to be “Copacabana Palace – O Musical”.

The theatre now has 238 seats in the stalls and another 70 on the balcony, as well as a number of boxes.

Its return is a very, very welcome addition to Rio’s cultural scene.

For the first time Brazil has chosen a documentary to represent it in the International Feature Film category at the Academy Awards. The film chosen by the Brazilian Academy (Academia Brasileira de Cinema) is Barbara Paz’s “Babenco: Tell Me When I Die” (“Babenco: Alguém Tem que Ouvir o Coração e Dizer Parou”).

The film premiered at the 2019 Venice Filme Festival where it won Best Documentary on Cinema. The film focuses on the last years of the life of filmmaker Hector Babenco who died of cancer in 2016. Paz was Babenco’s partner.

Babenco’s credits include “Pixote”, “Kiss of the Spider Woman” (for which he was nominated for an Oscar), “Ironweed”, “At Play in the Fields of the Lord”, “Coração Iluminado” and “Carandiru”. Three of his film screened in competition in Cannes and he was also a member of the jury in 1989.

The 93rd Academy Awards is scheduled to take place on Sunday, April 25 2021.

The new Extreme E series is heading to Brazil in 2021 with one of the series five races, the Amazon Prix, scheduled for a damaged region close to Santarem in the state of Para.

The fourth race in the series is scheduled to take place from 23 to 24 October 2021 with the Glacier Prix wrapping up the season in Terra del Fuego, Argentina from 11 to 12 December.  The series will bring electric racing to some of the most remote corners of the planet to highlight the climate change challenges faced by different ecosystems, whilst showcasing the performance of all-electric SUVs in extreme conditions.

Extreme E has pledged to work with The Nature Conservancy (TNC), which has more than 24 years of conservation experience across the Amazon and a deep understanding of the major drivers of deforestation in the region. The project has been selected by Francisco Oliveria PhD – Extreme E’s Amazon Scientist and a leading Brazilian conservation expert with more than 20 years’ experience working on Amazon issues for the Brazilian government, WWF and at the University of Cambridge.

Viradouro, that paraded second on Sunday and which were the runner up in 2019, won its second carnival title in 2020, beating Grande Rio by the smallest of margins having tied after all the marks were added up. Mocidade was third; Beija-Flor, fourth; Salgueiro, fifth and Mangueira, champions in 2019, sixth.

União da Ilha and Estácio de Sá were relegated with Imperatriz promoted to the Grupo Especial. In 2021 twelve schools will parade in the Grupo Especial.

The results of Rio’s Carnival Parade in 2020 were:

• Viradouro (269.6 out of 270)
• Grande Rio (269.6)
• Mocidade (269.4)
• Beija-Flor (269.4)
• Salgueiro (269.0)
• Mangueira (268.9)
• Portela (268.8)
• Vila Isabel (268.6)
• Unidos da Tijuca (267.6)
• Sao Clemente (267.0)
• Paraíso do Tuiuti (266.2)
• Estácio de Sá (264.7)
• União da Ilha (264.2)

Riotur photos of Viradouro’s parade, “Viradouro de alma lavada”, about As Ganhadeiras de Itapuã.

After a wait of some 92 years, Team USA will get the change to defend its Olympic rugby title that it won in Paris back in 1924, the last time rugby featured in the Olympics with USA beating France 17-3 in the final.

In 1924 it was the 15-man version, while in the Rio Olympics it will be seven-a-side and for both men and women. Both US teams have now qualified for Rio 2016.

The draw has been made for main parades of the major Rio samba schools, the  Grupo Especial. The parades will take place on the nights of Sunday, 7 February and Monday, 8 February 2016. The order will be:

Sunday, 7 February 2016

• Estácio de Sá
• União da Ilha
• Beija-Flor
• Grande Rio
• Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel
• Unidos da Tijuca

Monday, 8 February 2016

• Vila Isabel
• Salgueiro
• São Clemente
• Portela
• Imperatriz Leopoldinense
• Mangueira

Six schools will parade on Sunday night and six on Monday and they will start at 21.30, 22.35, 23.40, 00.45, 01.50 and 02.55.

Based on the results of the last six carnivals (2010-2015), the League of Samba Schools (LIESA) ranks the top ten samba schools in Rio de Janeiro as:

Unidos da Tijuca (95 points)
Beija-Flor (81)
Salgueiro (69)
Unidos de Vila Isabel (53)
Grande Rio (47)
Imperatriz Leopoldinense (34)
Portela (34)
Mangueira (29)
União da Ilha do Governador (17)
Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel (16)

After all the excitement of the FIFA World Cup in Brazil in 2014, the Copa America will take place in neighbouring Chile from 11 June to 4 July 2015. Host Chile and existing champions Uruguay will face eight other South American countries, including Brazil, along with invited guests Mexico and Jamaica.

The three groups are:

GROUP A: Chile, Mexico, Ecuador, Bolivia

GROUP B: Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Jamaica

GROUP C: Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela

Top two from each group go through to the quarter finals plus the best two third place teams.

First held in 1916, current champions Uruguay have won the cup 15 times, followed by Argentina with 14, Brazil with 8, Paraguay and Peru with 2, and Colombia and Bolivia with one title each. Brazil last one the cup in 2007 and 2004. It is the oldest international continental football competition.

The tournament schedule is:

Date / Time (local) / Teams
June 11 8:30 p.m. Chile vs. Ecuador
June 12 8:30 p.m. Mexico vs. Bolivia
June 13 4 p.m. Uruguay vs. Jamaica
June 13 6:30 p.m. Argentina vs. Paraguay
June 14 4 p.m. Colombia vs. Venezuela
June 14 6:30 p.m. Brazil vs. Peru
June 15 6 p.m. Ecuador vs. Bolivia
June 15 8:30 p.m. Chile vs. Mexico
June 16 6 p.m. Paraguay vs. Jamaica
June 16 8:30 p.m. Argentina vs. Uruguay
June 17 8:30 p.m. Brazil vs. Colombia
June 18 8:30 p.m. Peru vs. Venezuela
June 19 6 p.m. Mexico vs. Ecuador
June 19 8:30 p.m. Chile vs. Bolivia
June 20 4 p.m. Uruguay vs. Paraguay
June 20 6:30 p.m. Argentina vs. Jamaica
June 21 4 p.m. Colombia vs. Peru
June 21 6:30 p.m. Brazil vs. Venezuela
June 24 8:30 p.m. TBD vs. TBD Quarter-Final
June 25 8:30 p.m. TBD vs. TBD Quarter-Final
June 26 8:30 p.m. TBD vs. TBD Quarter-Final
June 27 6:30 p.m. TBD vs. TBD Quarter-Final
June 29 8:30 p.m. TBD vs. TBD Semi-Final
June 30 8:30 p.m. TBD vs. TBD Semi-Final
July 3 8:30 p.m. TBD vs. TBD 3rd Place
July 4 7 p.m. TBD vs. TBD Final