The dilemmas of São Paulo's "new street carnival"

Abstract

The article examines the so‑called “new street carnival” of São Paulo by interpreting the contemporary configuration of the city’s carnival festivities. Its central argument is that, since 2013, São Paulo’s street carnival has become an arena of political, economic, and social dispute, which can be chronologically divided into three phases: institutionalization, commercialization, and the increasing assertion of state control. The text’s substantive contribution lies in demonstrating how the carnival has become a privileged site for observing tensions surrounding the right to the city, the management of public space, and the interplay between culture, market forces, and urban policy. Methodologically, the analysis mobilizes three core research techniques: document analysis, semi‑structured interviews, and participant observation, drawing on press records, municipal decrees, manifestos produced by blocos de carnaval, and testimonies from cultural producers. The article shows that the expansion of the festivities occurred simultaneously with the massive entry of corporate sponsors, the advance of privatized management models, and the growing use of surveillance and containment devices such as barricades and smart cameras. It concludes that the street carnival remains a contested field, shaped by political decisions that directly affect its public, democratic, and popular character.