The man with the wild white beard looks familiar and his plump frame and jolly countenance add to the image. The red-and-white bobble-hat confirms his identity.
“Papai Noel!” shouts an excited Brazilian child as she looks up from the canvas on which she is painting to find a man she had previously seen only on television.
Santa Claus is in Rio de Janeiro this month helping promote his homeland as part of the events programme at Casa Finlandia, one of 52 “national houses” set up throughout the city during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
For anybody curious as to how Dubai might appear when the emirate welcomes Expo 2020, a tour of Rio this month can provide an early idea.
During an exploration of the city, you can slurp traditional Czech soup, climb aboard a full-scale replica Royal Air Maroc plane, dress like a Japanese geisha, learn to dance forro with Germans, enjoy a lecture on Shakespeare, sip 16 different types of Hungarian water, have your name written in Arabic calligraphy and party until the early hours with various Olympians.
The hospitality houses have become a tradition of recent Games: in Beijing and London, they proved some of the most popular places for athletes and fans to enjoy themselves.
Think less Global Village and more massive, sprawling international social spaces peppered across all corners of the city and showcasing culture, history, tourism and sport.
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The level of effort and money that has been spent constructing these bases must not be underestimated.
Bayt Qatar is located inside a neoclassical building that spans 11,000-square metres, dates back to 1866 and now includes a full-stocked Arabian souq.
Denmark reportedly spent US$4 million (Dh14.6m) on their custom-built beachside pavilion in Ipanema. The budget of the lagoon-based “Little Switzerland” — complete with ice-skating rink — is believed to be close to $8m.
“It’s very difficult to quantify how valuable these houses are to the countries,” said Mikael Virkki, a Brazilian-born adviser involved in the creation of Casa Finlandia, Finland’s first Olympic house.
“In terms of visibility, the house has been very important — we had 20,000 visitors here during our first three days. But also it is not just about tourism.
“It is important for us to show that Finnish companies can help at the next Olympic Games and other major events.”
Dominique Gosnet, president of Evac, a Finnish company specialising in water management, said negotiations are already underway regarding their presence in Dubai at Expo 2020.
Casa da Franca, where US swimmer Ryan Lochte was partying on the night of his alleged mugging, is renowned as one of the city’s liveliest nightspots and charges an entry fee.
Other houses — such as Italy and the United States — are closed to the public.
Casa Colombia is free to enter and caters primarily to tourists, offering free coffee from Sierra Nevada, live vallenato and reggaeton music, as well as athlete appearances.
When triple-jump gold medallist Caterine Ibarguen showed up earlier this week, the packed crowd in the garden serenaded her with the national anthem.
“We want the Colombian people in Rio to feel like they can come here and be at home, but we also want Brazilians and other tourists to come and experience Colombia and what we have to offer,” said Manuel Gomez, production manager at Casa Colombia, which is located inside the Cultural Centre for the Ministry of Health, a listed building close to the bustling Olympic Boulevard.
Gomez said the Colombian delegation secured their lease 12 months ago, but some hospitality houses start scouting locations up to three years before the Games come around.
When Finland signed a deal 18 months ago to convert a Brazilian-French museum into Casa Finlandia, the surrounding port area was dilapidated and dangerous.
The redevelopment of the old Port district is one of the greatest positives to come out of the Games.
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Once a no-go area outside business hours and a virtual ghost town at weekends, it is a now a vibrant boulevard complete with food lorries, skate parks, entertainment facilities and pop-up shops.
“This was our first-choice,” said Virkki, who personally scouted more than 10 locations across Rio before settling on a neoclassical building that dates back to 1819 and happens to be a snowball’s throw from the Olympic flame.
“We knew they would have some attractions around here, but not like this.
“It is much better than we expected. This was a completely different area when we chose it.”
Each national house, to secure its desired location, needs to offer a legacy promise.
Finland will install air conditioning in the muggy museum after the Olympics and Colombia has already fitted lighting and CCTV inside and out of their temporary home.
Mexico, whose house includes an exhibition showcasing the life of artist Frida Khalo, will help renovate the National History Museum in which it is based.
Yet Qatar appears to have outdone them all.
Bayt Qatar is the largest of all 52 hospitality houses and requires online pre-purchase of a R$20 (Dh22) entrance fee.
Yet it is already sold-out through the end of the Games and all income from tickets goes to a Brazilian NGO that promotes athletics in Rio’s public schools.
Underprivileged young athletes will also now have the possibility of training at the Aspire Academy in Doha.
Post-Games, Qatar’s rented building, formerly a Latin American art museum, will be transformed into a bilingual school, with the Qatari Olympic Committee (QOC) pledging to install and implement a fully stocked library.
“These Games will make history for Brazil, the Olympic movement and the world of sport,” said Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, the QOC president.
“We are honoured to be part of it.”
And so is Santa.
“I think you know I have been to Rio many, many times — every year in fact,” he said with a glint in his eye. “This time though, you can really sense the whole world is here with us.”
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