Samba schools parade through Rio de Janeiro

Samba schools paraded through the streets in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday during the opening event of "Rio Carnival 2022". The event is a preview of what will come in April, when the samba schools will perform at the world famous Sambadrome.

The Sambadrome parade was postponed in late January after the COVID-19 omicron variant caused coronavirus cases to spike in the city.

The samba schools were allowed to parade with a maximum of 150 people, way short of the usual 2500 and more that feature in the Sambadrome.  Still, the mini-performance brought joy for the crowd which has been waiting to see them in action for two years.