Members of a carnival troupe in Buenos Aires dream all year of the February carnival season – an antidote to the twists and turns of everyday life in the working class barrios of the Argentine capital. The group – one of the many neighbourhood ‘murgas’ common to the region, each with their own costume style and colours – is a source of identity and solidarity for the individuals who join up to it. The carnival may be fleeting, but the sense of community and the dreams, pride and longings of its members remain.