This is the Carnaval everyone thinks of when I mention Carnaval in Rio. In fact, this is what people think is the Carnaval – that we all dress up in the sequins and feathers and sparkly bikinis and then we just walk around in the street for 4 days, looking like that. Unfortunately, that’s not how it works.

There are two distinct and separate Carnavals: Carnaval na rua and the desfile. Carnaval na rua is the stuff that I do, the blocos or street parties where a bunch of people play in a band and another bunch of people in fancy dress follow them through the streets. The desfile is the Carnaval foreigners see on tv – the Parade with the samba schools and the massive floats and the incredible outfits. In fact, in Rio there is a special Oscar Niemayer-designed venue for this. It’s called the Sambódromo and…