Salvador Erupts in Carnival-Style Party as Brazil’s President Lula Wins Re-Election

Thousands of people danced shoulder to shoulder in the streets of Salvador late on Sunday, October 25, turning President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s re-election into a carnival-style street party.

X user Giovanna filmed the sea of revellers from above, many in red shirts and waving flags, jumping and dancing to music blasting from a stage. “It turned into carnival! Salvador won’t sleep tonight!” the filmer wrote.

Lula won every state in Brazil’s Northeast, including Bahia, on his way to a narrow national victory. He took 51.79 percent of the valid votes, against 48.21 percent for Flávio Bolsonaro, according to the electoral court.

Across Salvador, supporters packed the bohemian Rio Vermelho district, where a sound truck led a crowd from Ondina into the neighbourhood, with music, banners and fireworks late into the night.