Next year's Rio Carnival could be CANCELLED because of budget cuts

Rio de Janeiro's conservative and religious Mayor Marcelo Crivella said he is considering drastic cuts to city funding for the samba schools at the heart of the annual carnival extravaganza.

City hall currently gives some two million reais, or more than $600,000, to each of the 12 top schools making up 

the so-called Special Group, which competes at the Sambodromo stadium in elaborate parades.

But after two years of a deep national recession the city is looking for budget cuts and Crivella - a former bishop in the evangelical Universal Church of the Kingdom of God - is known to be

lukewarm about the Rio Carnival and is putting its future in doubt.

He is said to have slashed the budget in half and critics claim he is doing it over his religious beliefs, sparking protests in the city.

This year, he broke longstanding tradition by not attending the opening of the Sambodromo parades in what was widely seen as a snub to the event's wild party culture.

Now, Crivella is studying a plan to take about half of the approximately $7million budget for the samba schools and use it for funding the approximately 15,000 children in municipal kindergartens.

The mayor's office said: 'What we are doing is reflecting on how to spend in a better way - whether to use these resources for a three-day party or spread out over 365 days.'

The carnival contest is the high point in several weeks of festivities that bring in an estimated $1 billion in revenues to the city.

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A carnival dancer flaunts her amazing outfit

Jorge Luiz Castanheira, president of the Independent League of Samba Schools, said reducing aid would 'be a step backwards' for the world-famous event.

'Raising the budget for kindergartens is definitely important, but it's also treating the carnival in a simplistic way,' he told O Globo newspaper.

'Above all it's the economy surrounding the carnival - the hotels, restaurants and activities - that generate tax revenues.'

The carnival also suffered another blow this February when a huge float got out of control and ran into a crowd, injuring several dozen people, one of whom died of her injuries in April.

Sao Paulo Mayor Joao Doria says Brazil's biggest city will also slash public funding for the annual Carnival celebrations, following a similar step by Rio de Janeiro.

Although Doria did not say how big the cut will be, he promised to seek private funding to cover the gap.

'Faced with the budgetary rift we inherited, it is fundamental to reorganize our finances and invest in prioritary areas with fiscal responsibility,' Doria said Wednesday on his official Facebook page.

Sao Paulo's city government provided $9 million (30 million reals) for this year's Carnival.

Doria first announced his decision Tuesday night after a meeting with other Brazilian city mayors, including Marcelo Crivella from Rio de Janeiro.

Crivella has decided to cut by half Rio's funding for its own Carnival, the biggest in the world. 

The move has drawn criticism in the city, including a protest over the weekend. 

The organizers of the Rio Carnival and samba school supporters contend that Rio's mayor, a former Pentecostal bishop, is motivated by religious beliefs.