Praying the rain holds off.
Thousands of people are already filling the length of Sá Carneiro and Mar Avenues and Madeira Communities, to watch the allegorical procession that will mark this Carnival night.
Around 1,500 people will parade in the 13 troupes, with their respective floats from 8 pm along the route that starts on Avenida Sa Carneiro until the end of the southern strip of Avenida do Mar and Comunidades Madeirenses.
Organized by the Regional Secretariat for Economy, Tourism and Culture, through the Regional Tourism Directorate, the Saturday night allegorical parade is a long tradition spanning decades and attracts thousands of people to downtown Funchal.
This year it is being threatened by rain which, for now, remains in the mountains of the Madeiran capital and far from the center, although a ‘little sieve’ is falling at the moment.