Next year’s Carnival will feature two allegorical parades, one on Saturday night, as is currently the case, and another on Sunday night. A draw will be held to determine which groups participate in the first and second parades. The “Trapalhão” parade will remain on Carnival Tuesday, although with greater incentives for participation, possibly involving private social solidarity institutions (IPSS). This news was announced by the President of the Regional Government, Miguel Albuquerque, while attending the Madeira Flower Classic Auto Parade, which is taking place this afternoon in Funchal.
The chief executive explained that splitting the allegorical parade over two days is related to the large number of people from the 14 participating groups, which makes the event too long, causing the public to tire and, at a certain point, begin to lose interest. The problem had already been detected in the Flower Festival parade. As the solution of having two parades “worked very well” in this year’s edition, it will now be replicated in Carnival.
“I don’t think there’s any problem, because we already have this experience [of two parades at the Flower Festival] which went very well. Nobody gets up from the stands to leave. Because after three hours people leave, which happened now in the last edition of Carnival, where despite the beauty and the animation, people get a little tired. Three hours is a long time. And we also don’t want to hinder people from participating and improving. The best way to do it is to have two days of entertainment. It’s settled. It will go well. You’ll see,” declared Albuquerque, who had the regional secretary of Tourism, Eduardo Jesus, by his side.
Regarding the Madeira Flower Classic Auto Parade, the President of the Regional Government also assessed that it is “going very well,” highlighting the “good turnout” at the event and its improved quality. This parade includes 250 vehicles and 20 vintage bicycles, as well as 800 people. Albuquerque took the opportunity to thank all the classic car collectors from Madeira for making their vehicles available for this initiative. These are people who have a special interest in automobiles.