RIO DE JANEIRO: Millions of people in costumes — or little of anything — partied in street carnivals across Brazil on Sunday ahead of the elite samba school dance-off in Rio de Janeiro.

The Carnival officially started on Friday with the first parades of thousands of sequin-and-feather-covered samba school performers in cities across Latin America’s biggest country. More informal street dances called “blocos” took up the beat through the weekend, drawing vast crowds. Despite the rowdy, often raunchy nature of the parties, the mass of people and heavy consumption of alcohol, there were few reports of trouble.

However, a man in the northeastern city of Salvador died on Sunday after being shot by a policeman in the middle of the carnival crowd, G1 news site reported.

The officer said it was in self-defence.

Street party costumes this year included nods to Brazil’s ongoing corruption crisis.

Some dressed as jailed politicians and executives, others as law enforcement officials. A popular new character is the so-called “hipster federal cop,” a policeman whose muscular build and trendy hair-do made him a heartthrob when he was photographed guarding a corrupt politician.

For many Brazilians, however, “blocos” are above all an opportunity to shed inhibitions, many men dressing in drag. The health ministry announced it has distributed 77 million condoms around the country.

A few spots of rain Sunday in Rio and the threat of thunderstorms later were not expected to dampen the mood when the country’s most prestigious samba schools start parading in Rio’s Sambodromo stadium.

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2017