Several municipalities affected by bad weather in recent weeks have canceled events to celebrate Carnival, including Torres Vedras and Figueira da Foz, while others will maintain parades, such as Estarreja, Ovar and Mealhada.
On the 8th, the organization of the Torres Vedras Carnival (Lisbon district) announced the decision to cancel the municipality’s Carnival festivitiesbetween the 12th and 18th, due to bad weather that caused damage in the municipality.
“The municipality maintains its intention to hold Carnival when and if the necessary conditions are met, on a date to be defined”, the organization released in a statement, highlighting that now “the priority is the recovery of the territory, support for affected families and the restoration of normality”.
Figueira da Foz postpones parades until April
In Figueira da Foz, in the district of Coimbra, the Chamber initially maintained the Carnival parades, which would have actress Luciana Abreu as queen and local florist Nuno Miguel as king, but announced on Thursday that it was postponing the program following the storms that affected this municipality in the district of Coimbra. “In view of the situation currently existing in the Central Region, as we are in a state of calamity due to the storms, whose impacts on our municipality are still ongoing, and given what happened with the dike next to the A1, which may not be an isolated case, the conditions are not met to carry out the Buarcos – Figueira da Foz Carnival program”, he informed.
In a publication on the social network Facebook, the Chamber of Figueira da Foz (district of Coimbra) indicated that the night and day parades, scheduled for next Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday, were postponed to the first weekend after Holy Week.
Thus, the Samba Schools night parade will take place on April 11th and the Grande Corso Carnavalesco parade on April 12th.
Estarreja and Ovar, other municipalities with a carnival tradition, postponed parades associated with children, but with no indication of canceling other activities.
In Estarreja, one of the municipalities in a calamity situation, the opening party of Carnival was not held on Saturday for safety reasons, due to adverse weather forecasts, with very strong rain and wind.
Mealhada has canceled the night parade scheduled for this Monday, but will maintain the carnival parade on Tuesday, with the presentation of four samba schools: GRES Amigos da Tijuca, GRES Batuque, GRES Real Imperatriz and Sócios da Mangueira and walking groups.
In the areas most affected by the Kristin depression, Carnival events in Leiria and other municipalities in the district, such as Caldas da Rainha, Nazaré, Pombal, Marinha Grande, Figueiró dos Vinhos and Alvaiázere, were also canceled or postponed.
Also in Tomar, in the district of Santarém, the municipality canceled all activities, while in Rio Maior, in the same district, the Carnival Night Parade, scheduled for Saturday, was postponed until May 2“for security reasons” and “respect and solidarity with all residents and other Portuguese affected by the recent tragedy”.
In the district of Castelo Branco, the parades scheduled for Carnival Tuesday in Proença-a-Nova were cancelled, in order to concentrate human and logistical efforts on recovering the damage.
Celebrations continue in Loures, Loulé, Sines and Sesimbra
The festivities are maintained in traditional parades and carnival activities in Loures, Loulé, Sines and Sesimbraaccording to the programs consulted on the Internet pages.
Also in Nazaré, Carnival will take place without restrictions, after the period in which the municipality was in a calamity situation has ended.
In Almodôvar, in the district of Beja, the parade takes to the streets from 3pm, in Praça da República, with the theme Meeting of Cultures: Identities of the World.
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