'Rebirth' in Rio as carnival street parties return

This year marks the full comeback of the world's biggest carnival, after Rio hosted a watered-down version in 2022 -- postponed by two months because of the pandemic, and held without the epic street parties known as "blocos" that usually swarm the iconic beach city this time of year.

Rio authorised around 400 blocos this year. They have been flooding the streets ahead of the main carnival event: the city's samba school parade competition, scheduled for Sunday and Monday nights.

Many revellers are also celebrating because it is the first carnival since the election loss of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right conservative whose critics accuse him of authoritarian tendencies and attacking numerous causes close to the carnival community's heart, from diversity to gay rights to the arts.

Some revellers poked fun at the ex-army captain, whose slogan was "Brazil above all, God above everyone."

Brazil was one of the hardest-hit countries in the world at the height of the pandemic. Its Covid-19 death toll stands at nearly 700,000 -- a figure opponents blame on Bolsonaro's unorthodox policies.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the veteran leftist who narrowly beat Bolsonaro in October's elections, is more carnival-friendly.