Carnaval de Torres Vedras

Torres Vedras bills its carnival as o mais português de Portugal, the most Portuguese in Portugal, and the claim is a deliberate rejection of the Brazilian-influenced samba schools and feathered dancers that dominate carnival elsewhere in the country. What it does instead is satire: enormous papier-mâché heads and floats caricaturing politicians, public figures and the year's scandals, paraded with commentary that is frequently obscene and legally protected by custom; the matrafonas, men dressed as women in deliberately unflattering costume, who are the festival's signature; and the Zé Povinho figure, the nineteenth-century cartoon everyman created by Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro, who is crowned as carnival king. Schools parade separately, the town closes, and the whole thing runs across the carnival weekend into Ash Wednesday with tens of thousands attending each night.

What you actually see

• The satirical floats - papier-mâché caricatures of the year's politicians and scandals.
• The matrafonas - men in deliberately unflattering women's dress, the festival's signature.
• Zé Povinho - the nineteenth-century everyman cartoon crowned as king.
• The refusal of samba - a carnival defined against the Brazilian-style versions.

When to go

February or March, on the carnival dates, which move with Easter. One to three days for the main parades. Book accommodation ahead.

Honest expectations

The satire is coarse and the humour can be crude and pointed, including about sex and politics - it is not a family-sanitised event. Very heavy drinking. The town is packed and roads close. Cold February nights standing outside.

Nearby

The Lisbon coast and Ericeira are west; Lisbon is south on the A8.