It’s easy to think that the blowout parade Saturday night was Madeira’s premier Carnival event. And it was, when measured in glitter and glitz.

But today’s Slapstick Parade was a crowd favorite, too. Think of it as the people’s event. Anyone could enter. Costumes were as plain or fancy as you’d like them to be. Floats were homemade, and silliness reigned.

Many of the jokes went right over our heads; they required inside knowledge of Madeira politics. But I could get the gist of them, and laughed along with everyone else.

If Samba dancing was a focal point of Saturday’s event, children were a centerpiece of today’s celebration: little pirates, ballerinas, princesses and clowns running and twirling and throwing confetti.

Speaking of confetti, there was plenty to sweep up. A cleanup crew was waiting nearby, ready to begin.