On Shrove Tuesday, the Cortejo Trapalhão (Trickster Parade) fills in the street of Funchal with people showing their disguises and thousands of persons to see them.

This Carnival parade is the funniest in Funchal, as the satires are varied with masquerades amusing everyone playing with many areas of Madeira life, present and past. The caricatures of the politicians are an example and some traditional figures as well, like the old milkman.

The Trickster Parade is open to everyone who wish to participate in it, with its own disguise and, at the end, there is a prize giving ceremony to award the more creative ones. Other parades similar to this one but smaller, are held through almost all villages in Madeira and Porto Santo, on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

Photos by Helena Oliveira