Rio 2016 Olympics: A Carnival to Raise Spirits

The highly anticipated Opening Ceremony for the Games of the XXXI Olympiad will be broadcast tonight at 7:30 pm ET from Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro and will most likely exhibit a lively and colorful display of Brazilian beauty.

In the midst of financial crisis, this ceremony is expected to lift the spirits and unify a region of the world tainted by the struggles of economic collapse and a possible presidential impeachment. Major budget cuts have resulted from this fiscal calamity. This year’s Olympic budget is reported to be a twentieth of Beijing’s and 12 times less than the 2012 London games. Current concerns involve the Zika crisis, hygiene issues, a lack of security, and a political meltdown.

A lot of pressure rests on the directors of the ceremony to deliver a spectacle that will silence critics of the host country’s capability. How will they change the conversation?

The theme of environmental conservation has been thrown around as more and more individuals give their perspectives on what the ceremony will reveal. With that said, one can expect a focus on the Amazon as well as the natural topographical and cultural beauty of the country itself.

Brazil is comprised of diversity; its people, traditions and landscape will no doubt serve as the inspiration driving the opening ceremony. One could compare this event to another Carnival, where tropical cheer as well as samba will be in abundance.

Tonight, our hope is that Maracanã Stadium will not only be an eruption of color, marrying the architectural beauty of Brazil’s major metropolitan areas with the raw and unfiltered splendor of the rain forest and its native inhabitants, but a celebration that succeeds in changing the conversation and raising spirits.

By: Agustina Goldbaum