Samba Enredo is now an intangible cultural heritage of Rio de Janeiro.

Rio 247 - As one of his last acts as mayor, Eduardo Paes declared samba-enredo an intangible heritage of Rio de Janeiro. The decree was published this Friday (30) recognizing the musical style as an intangible asset of the city, in the year that samba celebrates its centenary. According to the president of the Rio Heritage of Humanity Institute, Washington Fajardo, samba is an important cultural manifestation of the city that is completely linked to the history of Rio de Janeiro.

Samba composer Fernando de Lima, who has written 89 songs for different samba schools, says that samba is everything to the people of Rio and is a manifestation of what they feel. The decree recognizing samba-enredo as an intangible cultural heritage of Rio de Janeiro considers the importance of preserving the city's cultural memory through its forms of expression and also highlights that samba schools are already considered intangible heritage.

In addition to these, the list of intangible cultural heritage includes bossa nova, the Cordão da Bola Preta and Cacique de Ramos carnival groups, the literary works of Machado de Assis, the Luiz Gonzaga Center for Northeastern Traditions, the vendors of mate and cassava flour biscuits on the beaches, the Iemanjá festivals, Umbanda, carnival marches, among others.