Between fear and excitement, Brazilians are back in planning New Year's Eve

Marah New Year’s Eve party, which this year takes place in Boipeba, south of Bahia; Tickets sold out

Marah New Year’s Eve party, which this year takes place in Boipeba, south of Bahia; Tickets sold out (Philippe Gabriel / Reproduction)

With no white-clad crowds on the beaches, 2021 began under WHO protocols. As in the following months, the streets were empty during the carnival, and the sampodiromos were empty. But now, with 39.1% of Brazil’s population vaccinated to 100%, the New Year’s Eve parties are set to be a preview of the pandemic’s end.

In Rio de Janeiro, one million people are expected to participate in the city’s New Year celebrations, according to a statement from the city council, which previously stated that the festivities are “conditional on the epidemiological scenario of the epidemic in the capital.”

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On the northeast coast, from Bahia to Ceará, there are countless parties with the most sought-after Brazilian artists of the time. Pop, Electronica, Axe, and Foro are some of the musical styles that will blur the countdown to 2022.

Although juvenile producers focus on safety protocols against Covid-19, Luiz Gustavo de Almeida, a microbiologist at the University of the South Pacific’s Institute of Biomedical Sciences, said that immunization of the population should be accelerated by the end of the year.

Goodbye last year happy holidays

For Juliana Ferraz, Business Director and Partner at Holding Club, Itacaré is more than just a great destination in Bahia. 73 kilometers from Ilheus, the hometown of Ferraz, a Bahia woman spent her weekends and holidays in the village. In 2020, he fulfilled his dream of producing the first New Year’s Eve Nº1 in the city, with attractions such as Ivete Sangalo and Alok. The 2021 edition did not happen.

However, in April of this year, with vaccinations taking place in Brazil, the company decided to plan the party again. In four days of celebration, Anitta, Barões da Pisadinha, Banda Eva, Dennis DJ and Vintage Culture will take to the stage. However, the focus is not only on tourist entertainment, but also on the economy of the region.

“There is a tremendous emotional memory, but more than that, there is a greater responsibility to the city and the community. For the event, we put several factors in the balance. First: the issue of security for the city, the community and tourists. Another point is the economic factor, which is to continue to build the city’s image and make savings. destination,” he says.

Security protocols for the event, which will last four days and expect between three and four thousand people per day, are varied. In an open space of 6,000 people, it will have two stages to divide the audience, test guests and staff (twice a day), and distribute alcohol gel and masks “to those who still don’t feel comfortable not using it,” he says. To enter the event, you will need to show your vaccination card. Although there is no hospital in the city, the event aims to transport potentially infected people to care in Ilhéus, 45 minutes from Itacaré.

Not far from Bahia’s capital, Ilha de Boipeba has to host the Mareh party, a party that has celebrated its turn for 16 years. Limited to 1,000 people since before the pandemic and tickets already sold out, the party will also request a negative test and proof of vaccination, as well as testing during the six days of the event.

Although seemingly bureaucratic, the protocols do not pose an additional challenge to the organization. It was difficult to organize an event for which a large part of tickets had already been sold out in 2020 – when everything was cheaper and the party had to be postponed again due to Covid-19.

“Last year I sold invitations to an event that cost X and today it costs twice as much. We had to be creative with the spreadsheets to offset this loss from inflation,” explains organizer Goga Rosselli, who also had to bear the costs. Way back to international attractions from abroad – at least half of the squad’s 34 DJ lineup.

Another big challenge, Rosselli says, is “detaining these people,” whose enthusiasm is skyrocketing after nearly two years without parties. “They show more interest in the event, for those who really want to be there. And they promise to take the time. It’s a warning sign for us to redouble our sponsorship with everything. Especially with excesses.”

Among those who promised to make up for the delay is publicist Matthew Nader, who went to Merah with tickets bought last year. He admits that due to the last postponement in 2020, he was a little concerned about the viability of the event this year. But the steady decline in the number of cases and deaths is pushing that concern away every day.

“Fortunately, with everyone vaccinated and tested, and numbers down, I don’t think we have much to worry about in terms of Covid-19,” says Nader, who has already booked his tickets and accommodation. “The scenario may change, but I think we are finally heading towards this moment to enjoy without the pandemic’s shadow on our tail.”

Changing the Brand Sponsorship Strategy

With the exception of sectors such as alcoholic beverages and clothing, traditional New Year’s Eve parties, whether public or private, have never generated as much interest from sponsoring brands as other large-scale events, such as Carnival.

Even before the pandemic, selling sponsorship stakes was no longer something that promoters could count on exclusively to put their events on their feet, since history isn’t part of the investment calendar for most brands, the situation is now more complex.

With the uncertainty about the return and end-of-year parties being widely received by the public, brands remain wary about wanting to publicly stamp their logos. “In this transition preceding the return of major events, brands have been more fearful of sponsorship,” explains Tatiana Oliva, Partner at Cross Networking, the #1 organizer of New Year’s Eve, who has previously sponsored brands such as Ambev, Pernaud Rijkaard and Sephora.

To overcome shyness on the part of sponsors, in the case of New Year’s Eve No. 1, the solution was to change the way brands appear at the event. “The person behind the brand is eager to come back, but the legal entity is still very scared. The formula that we found to deal with this situation was to partner with the brands: Instead of sponsoring the event, they would provide services in the areas where they operate, from cleaning the bathrooms to The supply of beer. This, without displaying their logos directly, ”says Oliva.

“People want to live again. If we don’t do it in an organized way, it will happen in an unstructured way. This year, we realized that the sponsorship share wouldn’t work, but the brands would still be there, just in other ways,” he adds.

Health security depends on vaccination

In countries such as Australia, Spain and the UK, where vaccination is more advanced, major music festivals are already taking place, as well as other events for up to thousands of people back in plans. In Brazil, meetings scheduled for New Year’s Eve should serve as a test of the feasibility of a gradual resumption in early 2022.

For a microbiologist at the University of the South Pacific’s Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Luiz Gustavo de Almeida, what will determine the degree of health security in the year-end festivities is the intensity of the national vaccination campaign in the final months of 2021.

According to the expert, it is inevitable that people will come together again a year and a half after the epidemic, paving the way for reducing potential harm, giving Strengthen In vaccination, it is necessary.

“We need to believe that we will continue to live with this virus. Vaccines are doing their part, which is to prevent deaths and hospitalizations, but transmission, while decreasing, will not stop,” says Almeida.

“In Brazil today, half the population is still not immunized. If we want to spend the holidays safely, it is necessary to speed up vaccination in the last months of the year. SUS is quite capable of doing this. He concludes that if we reach herd immunity by December, it will be holding these events smoother.”