As If There Were No Tomorrow: New Year’s CovidFests in Brazil

The clash between the Brazilian president and the local authorities sent confusing signals regarding the COVID-19 pandemic to the population. Many debates were raging across social media on whether people should stay home or keep the economy running. Nevertheless, with the intensification of the pandemic and the prolonged restrictive measures, many people started to disrespect social distancing and, with the premature reopening of the economy in many cities, agglomerate. Even with restrictions on agglomeration by state and municipal governments and the cancellation of traditional New Year’s Eve events in Brazil, the turn of the year was characterized by illegal agglomeration in various states. The aim of the article is to explain why there were so many illegal New Year’s parties—known as CovidFests—in Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the restrictions on agglomeration. The main argument indicates that CovidFests are connected to the lack of social belonging in Brazilian society, which reflects the ongoing necropolitics in the country and the dissemination of a furious melancholy, when discouragement becomes destructive.

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