Carnival-goers let the good times roll in Rio

By Angus MacSwan

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Revelers dressed as cavemen, Arab dancers, pirates and a host of other characters took over downtown Rio de Janeiro's main avenue on Saturday as the world's biggest street party lurched into full swing.

Tens of thousands of people jammed the elegant Avenida Rio Branco for a street party led by the Bloco Cordao da Bola Preta, one of the many social clubs whose celebrations form the heart of Rio's Carnival.

The road ran with beer and urine as people danced en masse to the samba beat of a band playing atop a truck. Many people had awakened with hangovers after Friday night's parties -- or had not gone to bed at all.

The five-day Carnival, a blend of traditions from Portuguese colonists and African slaves, is Brazil's most important celebration and is famed the world over for the extravagant parades by top samba groups and scantily clad mulatta dancing queens.

But its true spirit is found in the street parties in which anyone can join, though preferably wearing a silly hat and clutching a liquid refreshment.

"Happiness, beer and women," said Udo, a 30-year-old administrator, when asked to sum up the significance of carnival.

He and a group of friends were dressed in leopard-print cavemen outfits, stopping now and then to shake their clubs and leap in the air. He planned to be on the streets till the end, he said.

Ana Paula, a 31-one-year-old seamstress, and her friends were dressed as Minnie Mouse in spotted dresses and mouse ears.