Circuit party shut down by police after thousands of maskless men attend amid coronavirus case surge
A circuit party in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was shut down by police and firefighters after thousands of maskless men attended as the city’s COVID cases soar.
The Festa Revolution gay circuit party took place on Tuesday (29 December) at Faro Beach Club in the city’s Leblon district, on the same day that coronavirus deaths in Rio de Janeiro alone reached more than 14,600.
Around 2,000 people were packed on the dance floor and partying without masks when police burst in to shut the event down, having received complaints that the event was violating COVID-19 rules.
According to GloboNews, the organisers, Revolution Party, had said that all coronavirus safety protocols would be followed when they advertised the event, but none of the participants were wearing masks.
Some members of the LGBT+ community were shocked by the event, with one sharing a video of the thousands of party-goers on Twitter and writing: “My God! Look at the Coronafest that is happening RIGHT NOW in Rio!
“Revolution by Rosane Amaral [the promoter]. Won’t anyone do anything?”
🆘MEUDEUS! Olha a CoronaFest q está rolando NESSE INSTANTE no Rio!!! Revolution da Rosane Amaral. CARALEO, NINGUÉM VAI FAZER NADAAAAAAA???? pic.twitter.com/nXobtd7cyp
— Rafa Arena (@rafaelarena_) December 30, 2020
According to Diario do Rio, Rio City Hall said the event had not been authorised, and that it was found to have breached three rules; it did not have a health license, social distancing was not implemented and masks were not used.
Another unauthorised party at the same venue had to be shut down in November, and now Faro Beach Club could face losing its license and closing down, and well as having to pay fines.
Vox journalist Alex Abad-Santos shared a video of the party being shut down and wrote: “Not the police shutting down the rio circuit party.”
“For the record I love dancing with shirtless homos,” he added. “I can’t wait to hang out with everyone at the big homosexual dance party when we’re all vaccinated in 2021.”
https://twitter.com/alex_abads/status/1344139375831961600
Revolution Party, however, has insisted it did nothing wrong. Writing on Instagram, the circuit party organisers insisted: “Faro Beach Club has all the licenses imposed by responsible bodies to operate LEGALLY.
“It is absurd to question the legality of the house without hard evidence. The event followed the required sanitary protocols such as temperature measurement and availability of hand sanitiser.
“Our legal department is taking care of all the news that is based on fallacies and that do not align with the truth.”