Let the revelry begin: Rio mayor hands city's key to King Momo as Carnival kicks off

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The mayor of Rio de Janeiro gave King Momo the key to the Brazilian city on Friday, ushering in the symbolic Carnival monarch’s five-day reign over the festivities.

Until Wednesday, Momo is charged with presiding over the revelry, participating in the parades and promoting the joy of partygoers. His ruling over the metropolis in the South American country symbolizes society being turned upside down during Carnival.

This year’s Momo is 30-year-old Danilo Vieira, a Rio native who will be taking charge of the celebrations.

“The rules still apply, of course," Vieira told The Associated Press before his symbolic coronation. "We have to follow the rules of our city, our country, but Carnival is run by me."

In 2024, Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes issued a decree making the key ceremony an annual official event, obliging his successors to participate.

Rio City Hall expects about 6 million revelers to participate in the raucous street parties, where groups made up of musicians, percussionists and stilt artists draw thousands of partygoers, many scantily dressed and covered in glitter.

Many will head to Rio’s famed Sambodrome, where samba schools will showcase their parades — prepared diligently for months — complete with ginormous floats and elaborate costumes, to judges who will dish out points and eventually announce a winner.

This year's parades celebrate diverse themes including sex workers, late singer and songwriter Rita Lee and Black communities in the Amazon.

While Rio’s Carnival is the most well-known, the festivity is a nationwide phenomenon. Samba schools in the world’s largest tropical rainforest are also preparing parades, and festivities in the colorful, colonial city of Olinda began on Thursday.

In Rio, a recent wave of thefts by young people acting in groups have raised security concerns, with some calling on the mayor and Gov. Cláudio Castro to do more to guarantee revelers’ safety.

“Carnival is meant to be a time of joy, but what we’ve been seeing at the street parties in Rio, beyond the fun, is fear,” former councilwoman Luciana Boiteux said on Instagram earlier this month. She called for better lighting and preventive community policing.

Rio City Hall’s secretariat of public order and the municipal guard said that they have set up a special operation involving around 1,100 agents for patrols. The teams will monitor street parties from start to finish, when the risk of thefts tends to intensify.

Teams specializing in violence against women will also be present at key locations to offer support and guidance, City Hall said.

At Friday’s ceremony, Vieira said that Carnival is also about inclusivity.

“Carnival is love, carnival heals," he said. "A kind of magic happens, bringing joy to every heart, to all races, to everyone.”

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