All of that (research) was academic. Carnival is all about personal perception. So you get here and you almost have to unlearn it.

An hour later we were walking past rows of busy beach huts and weaving between sunbathers and Frisbee games. I was surprised that people weren't taking more notice of us. Everyone looked so strange to me that I couldn't believe I didn't look equally strange to them.

The characters are built up of layers and layers. We're just adding our own layer.

And that's precisely why we've made a pilgrimage here. What we've been doing for 8 years, Trinidad has been doing for 200, so we just had to come here.

Carnival has nothing at stake here and therefore has no downside, ... We, on the other hand, have a valuable transaction that could be put at risk.

There is a private side to Carnival. It started as an event that we did for ourselves and it still is. The economic side is monumental and it's good for the city. But we chose to do this for us.