Rio's Banda de Ipanema street band turns 50

Traditional Rio carnival bloco Banda de Ipanema turns 50 this year. The celebrations began Saturday (Jan. 24) with an open rehearsal in General Osório square, Ipanema, opening the preparations in the lead-up to this year's street parades. The first of them will be held next Saturday (Jan. 31) and is expected to draw 40,000 revelers.

For the two parades set to take place during Carnival (14 and 17 February), the organizers are hoping to gather a 90,000 crowd on the streets of Ipanema, the South Rio neighborhood that was immortalized in the song, “The Girl from Ipanema” by Tom Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes. Band chairman Cláudio Luiz Coelho Pinheiro says this will be a special carnival celebration because of the band's fiftieth anniversary, but also because they are paying tribute to Rio de Janeiro for the 450 years of its foundation.

As Pinheiro notes, the band stands out for its open, all-welcoming atmosphere. “Everyone's welcome. It's definitely an open space to be – and that's what best describes the spirit of the band. It has always been, and will remain, democratic. We have no reserves about accepting anyone.”

*With additional radio reporting by Nanna Pôssa for Radiojornalismo

Translated by Mayra Borges