At a meeting held in Ouro Preto (MG) this Friday (10), the Association of Historic Cities of Minas Gerais unanimously decided not to promote Carnival in 2022.
The group comprises 30 municipalities in Minas Gerais, including Ouro Preto and Diamantina, which have traditional Carnivals in the state.
According to the mayor of Ouro Preto, Ângelo Oswaldo (PV), the city will release a final decision next Wednesday (15th). However, he says that the broader position is for not holding the popular festival.
“The fact that Belo Horizonte does not promote Carnival would leave us enormously vulnerable to receive a tremendous flow if there were Carnival here. We would be running the risk of causing an unbearable agglomeration”, says the mayor.
In the city of Itabirito, in the central region of Minas Gerais, a public consultation was carried out and 91% of the people who gave their opinion were against the holding of the festivities. Furthermore, according to the city hall, there is not enough time to organize a party of the magnitude of Carnival.
In Diamantina, the city government plans to carry out other activities to receive tourists on the Carnival holiday. Sporting activities, hiking and a cycle tour are planned.
According to the association, the historic cities have some of the most traditional Carnivals in Minas. The parties could attract a very large number of tourists and cause large crowds.
“So that the advances achieved with vaccination are not in vain and do not suffer a setback, the association decides, by unanimous vote, to guide the member municipalities not to carry out the Carnival of 2022”, the president of the association, Wirley Rodrigues Reis.
According to him, despite the cancellation of the festivities, the cities will be open to tourists. The objective is to highlight actions related to cultural, ecological and adventure tourism.
In Belo Horizonte, the city hall stated that it will not promote or encourage events during Carnival. However, the security, health, mobility and cleaning services will be maintained, respecting the spontaneous manifestations of the population.
“The Municipality of Belo Horizonte recognizes the value of the event for the city, the actors and the entire production chain. However, the municipality follows the guidelines of the Committee to Combat Covid-19 and, for this reason, it will not hold a sponsorship notice , investment in structures and registration of street blocks for the 2022 Carnival”, says the administration, in a note.
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