A carnival is a public party - people play music and often dance in the streets. Many people in the world have carnivals around February. Carnival season is a holiday before 'Lent' begins. 'Lent' is traditionally a time of fasting (not eating) before the Christian holiday of Easter.

One of the most famous carnivals is in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. During 'carnaval' (as it's called in Brazil) there is music, parades, dancing and singing, and many people dress up in costumes for the festival. Read a story about a boy and a girl who are at a carnival.

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Kelly was excited. She was on holiday with her family in a fantastic place – Rio in Brazil. The hotel was wonderful. There was a swimming pool and a garden, and it was near the beach!

Kelly’s brother Steve was excited too. It was carnival time in Rio and that night there was a big party in the street. Everyone had wonderful clothes in different colours – green, blue, red, purple, and even gold and silver.

Kelly and Steve wanted to go to the party but they didn’t have any carnival clothes.
“Let’s go to a shop and buy some costumes,” said Steve.
So they went out of the hotel and into the shopping centre.
All the shops had fantastic clothes. They went into a big shop.

Kelly put on a costume – there was a special jacket, a short skirt, a blue T-shirt, white boots and a cowboy hat. She looked in the mirror.
“Ha ha, you look terrible!” said Steve.

Steve put on a costume – a pair of red and yellow trousers, a green and red spotty shirt, blue shoes, a silly hat and a red nose.
“That’s good! You look like a clown!” said Kelly.

Kelly bought a gold-coloured dress and silver shoes, and Steve bought a superman costume. Now they were ready for the party!