“Carnaval em casa”

The carnival of 2021 Rio de Janeiro was unprecedently cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and city administration knew it would have enforce decision convince residents avoid celebrating despite restrictions. Importantly, officials had support samba schools blocos street carnival, organized a manifesto campaign declaring that in be “at home.” While many scholars shown how music can mobilize revelers, this article shows Rio’s also capacity demobilize them. Their drew on familiar carnivalesque Brazilian tropes rationalize biopolitical message civic responsibility, respect for life, resistance virus denialism. They played long-standing as an ephemeral moment whose presence is fleeting soon experienced saudade, or nostalgia. I explore various manifestations campaign, including its manifestos arguments, well some alternatives were offered, such virtual performances new songs adapted situation. By inverting their traditional demands occupy streets instead limiting festivity domestic space, framed plea not departure from tradition, but fundamentally carnivalesque. argue classic theories are best understood performative rather than explanatory; is, practitioners deploy inversion elements persuasive discourse my focus.