The Carnival

Rio's samba schools are organised into six competitive leagues which compete over four days. The winning school of each league parades on the fifth day.

The biggest samba schools have up to 5,000 participants and take up to two hours to parade down the Sambodromo runway in Rio de Janeiro.

Each school is judged on a range of criteria, from the school's central theme to the drumming section and, of course, the dancing, the floats and the costumes.

Carla is the 'porta-bandeira' - flag bearer - of her local samba school, Vila Isabel, and worked all year round preparing for the parade, which kicked off the Carnival. She had to hold the school flag during an elaborate dance routine with her consort. The samba school followed on behind with an army of percussionists known as the 'bateria'. The school's theme for this year's parade was the work of Oscar Niemeyer, the famous architect of Brazil's capital city, Brasilia.

• CARLA'S CARNIVAL DIARY - DAY 2 - BEFORE THE PARADE
  
  I'm having my make-up done, getting ready, having a manicure and then I'll need a rest.
  
  We are all so nervous and we're knackered. Everyone is nervous waiting for the parade.
  
  We parade around 8:30, 9:00. We had to reduce the number of participants from 4,000 to 3,000 in order to finish within an hour. So 800 people were taken out of the parade. Generally, it's the ones who come from the private schools, those who pay, not the ones who will add points.
  
  Vila Isabel has 99% chance of winning. We've worked really hard, by the book, doing a good job ever since last year. We're doing everything we can to overcome the fact that we lost last year. I think we have a pretty good chance of winning...

Carnival Time in Rio: Carla's Diary - After The Parade