Rio’s Carnival kicks off with street parties, blasphemous costumes and foreigners fleeing snow

Carnival erupts in Rio amid scorching heat wave

RIO DE JANEIRO — Carnival’s raucous street parties flooded Rio with drum-beating local revelers and sweaty foreigners escaping snowbound cities.

Thousands danced to a samba beat on the cobbled streets of the bohemian Santa Teresa neighborhood, donning skimpy costumes bordering on blasphemous.

At the “Carmelitas” party — named after a nearby convent — groups of young women dressed as sexy police in cutoffs and tank tops, while grown men donned baby outfits, sucked on pacifiers and showered themselves with talcum powder.

A drum line that kept the crowd dancing in the sweltering heat was made up of young men dressed as nuns, as were many in the crowd.

Friday marked the start of dozens of the eccentric, pulsating street parties that are the heart and soul of Rio’s pre-Lent festival.

The seaside city is opening its arms to more than 700,000 visitors this year, according to tourism officials, and the hottest weather in five decades has done nothing to slow down the madness.

Carly Oboudiyat, a 25-year-old medical student from New York, left mountains of snow to enjoy Rio’s white sand beaches and “blocos” — as Rio’s Carnival street parties are known.

“It’s fantastic going from freezing winds to 111-degree weather,” Oboudiyat said as she took in the surroundings near Ipanema beach, a cold beer in hand and beads of sweat on her forehead.

Samba dancers were rehearsing for the start of the premier competition in dazzling parades of scantily clad revelers and towering floats.

This year, a spunky 7-year-old girl has been promoted to the coveted role of Carnival drum corps queen — something normally reserved for sultry models.

Elsewhere, Brazilian Carnival was holding on fast to tradition. In Minas Gerais state north of Rio, the mayor of San Lorenzo banned Brazilian rap and funk music at street parties, saying the styles promote violence and vulgarity. Offenders face up to six months in jail.

In the colonial town of Olinda in northeastern Brazil, anyone playing loud music in their house will face a fine of $3,800. Officials say they want nothing interfering with the music in the streets.

Amid the partying in Rio, authorities this year were clamping down on small offenses such as urinating in public, trying to bring a semblance of order to Rio’s crammed streets and beaches.

In the wake a winning bid to host the 2016 Olympics, Rio and its ambitious young mayor want to show the world the city of 6 million has the ability to safely host major events and contain drug-gang violence.

Police have already arrested nearly 100 people for using the gutters as toilets — something tolerated in the past at beer-guzzling street parties. At least two offenders were women.

Beaches no longer resemble full-service bazaars with greasy snacks delivered on command under a sprawl of rented umbrellas.

Paul O’Neil, a 32-year-old from Brisbane, Australia, visiting Rio for the first time, said he so far was impressed with the sense of security.

“It’s great to get here and see what the hype is all about,” he said. “It seems much safer than I thought it would be — touch wood.”