The freedom to experience carnival in April

Adverse weather conditions did not allow the event to take place in February. The approximately 1500 participants ended up taking to the streets in this month’s anniversary of the Carnation Revolution, a happy rescheduling, as Freedom was the theme of the parade

The clouds also threatened the departure of the S. João da Madeira Schools Carnival, on the morning of last Saturday, raising the possibility of a third cancellation, after the 10th and 11th of February and the 6th of April.
However, the parade did go ahead and, although some rain ended up being felt, it arrived in a good place, which is to say, it arrived at Praça Luís Ribeiro, where it culminated with lots of music and dancing, as has been happening in recent years. .
With Freedom as its theme, the event ended up taking place, exceptionally, just a few days before the 50th anniversary of the 25th of April, an event very present in the costumes, in which carnations stood out.
“The holding, last Saturday, of the Schools Carnival, dedicated to the theme of Freedom, ended up resulting in a happy approach, also on the date, to the celebration of the 25th of April, whose 50th anniversary is marked this week”, highlighted the president of the Chamber, regarding the event.
Congratulating all the participants and thanking those who contributed to the parade, Jorge Vultos Sequeira considered that “it was important, in conjunction with the participating entities, that it was possible to provide the event and the opportunity for the different groups to show their creativity ”.

“The best carnival”

After “justified postponements”, the holding of the Schools Carnival “resulted in an explosion of color, animation and a lot of joy”, said, for her part, councilor Irene Guimarães, highlighting that “the theme of freedom paraded through the avenues of our city”.
An event “decorated with many carnations carried by the hands, some of them very small, and with perfect and very successful allusions to the 50th anniversary of the 25th of April, such an important milestone in our history”, highlighted the person responsible for education at the Chamber of S. João da Madeira.
“For me, it was the best carnival ever, in its 41 editions: due to the symbolism of the theme, the representation of its participants who knew how to appropriate it so well and the lessons that were transmitted not only in the procession but also and with all the certainty, in its very rich preparatory moments, allowing a pedagogical and learning approach”, emphasized Irene Guimarães.
“We are very happy and grateful for the final result and we are especially grateful to all the people who were involved in it”, concluded the Education councilor.

“Reference to the Blue Pencil”

With a circus entertainment group as a special guest of this year’s edition, there were around 1,500 participants in this 41st edition of the event, most of them children and young people from schools in S. João da Madeira.
Catarina Sousa was one of the thousands of people who watched the Carnival parade. “I think the theme of the 50th anniversary of the revolution is very relevant and, coincidentally, despite the postponement, it ended up happening precisely on the weekend before the 25th of April”. While waiting for her two nieces to pass by, she explained that curiously she thought “we would see more April captain costumes, but the schools opted more for carnations. The kids dressed in ardinas and Celeste Caeiro, the lady who distributed the carnations to the soldiers, were very cute”.
This Sanjoan native emphasized her pleasure with the reference to Lápis Azul, “with a completely censored page of Expresso. Other than that, I just think there’s a bit of a lack of dynamics throughout the parade, I thought the procession was very still.”