Vibrant homage to black women wins Rio carnival contest

Viradouro, the last group to strut down the avenue in two nights of decadence Sunday and Monday, wowed the crowd with a feathery, fluorescent celebration of an African serpent goddess worshiped in Benin, including a float with a towering, neon-colored snake that flicked its tongue toward the audience.

Creative director Tarcisio Zanon called the show an homage to the "strength and spirit of black women," in comments to news site G1.

Rio's carnival parades are famous for their lavish costumes, towering floats, sultry samba beats and voluptuous dancers.

But beyond the feathers, sequins and glitz, each parade tells a story, often deeply rooted in history and present-day social issues.

Several of the 12 parades in this year's competition dealt with Afro-Brazilian or Indigenous identity, as well as the subjects of inequality and prejudice in Brazil, the last country in the Americas to abolish slavery, in 1888.

Fifty-six percent of Brazil's 203 million people identify as black or mixed-race. Samba, the music that fuels the carnival parades, was created a century ago by descendants of former slaves.

Viradouro, founded in 1946 in the Rio suburb of Niteroi, previously won the competition in 1997 and 2020.

Reigning champions Imperatriz Leopoldinense took second place.