10 best carnivals in the world

Carnival - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

• when: 40 days before Easter, in February or March.
• Attendance: Approximately 2 million people out every day in the streets of Rio to watch the performances of some 200 schools and 300 troops of Samba district.
• Duration: Four days, from Saturday to Tuesday. The two main parades, who see through the best samba schools, take place on Sunday and Monday. The opening ceremony takes place on Friday.
• Main attraction: The Sambadrome, a huge avenue lined with bleachers built to accommodate each

Notting Hill - London, England

• When: Last Sunday and Monday of August.
• Attendance: Nearly a million people go there to watch 50,000 performers.
• Duration: Two days of parades (Sunday, for the children and Monday for the adults).
• Main attraction: About 40 sound installations along the parade route, stalls selling Caribbean specialties such as jerk chicken, patties, and fried plantains curies.

Mardi Gras - New Orleans, USA

• When: The two weeks leading up to Mardi Gras on the eve of Ash Wednesday.
• Crowded: The festivities attract nearly 750,000 people each year in the "Big Easy" (nickname of New Orleans).
• Term: The carnival celebrations start on Jan. 6, the Epiphany, reaching their peak at Mardi Gras at midnight, the day before Ash Wednesday.
• Main attraction: It must be confessed, which draws crowds here are pearl necklaces that people exchange and especially to see how far they can go to get it.

Carnival of Santa Cruz, Tenerife - Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife

• When: The week before Ash Wednesday.
• Attendance: More than one hundred groups of musicians play during Carnival alongside Murgas, stooges and rondallas.
• Duration: The main parade (coso) takes place on Mardi Gras, towards the end of the two weeks of festivities. The standby time is devoted to festivities. The previous Saturday is dedicated to dance with two big performances in the main squares.
• Main attraction: The incredible televised Miss Carnival is definitely the highlight of the show. For many people, the carnival of Tenerife is the second largest after the one in Rio.

Carnival of Venice - Venice, Italy

When: Two weeks before Ash Wednesday.

Crowds: Thousands of people participate in public events and private parties.

Duration: Twenty days, even if the major events held during the last two weeks.

Main attraction: A charade, in which everything is about to relive the elegance of ancient social traditions by dressing in masks and elaborate costumes.

Carnival - Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago

• When: Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.
• Attendance: 300,000 people gathered in Queens Park and the National Stadium.
• Duration: Two days of parades preceded by more than two weeks of festivities and preliminary competitions.
• Main attraction: Competitions between groups of pianists (or Pan Steelpan is a percussion instrument from Trinidad and Tobago).

Carnaval de Quebec - Quebec City, Canada

• When: Two weeks before Mardi Gras and a few days later.
• Attendance: About 500 000 people, making it the largest winter festival in the world.
• Duration: Approximately 17 days.
• Main attraction: The main topics are the winter sports such as racing sled dogs, canoe races, snow sculpture contest, bathroom contest snow, ice skating and sledding.

Festival Cologne - Cologne, Germany

• When: the week before Mardi Gras.
• Crowded: Attracts more than a million people each year.
• Duration: Approximately six days: Thursday is the day dedicated to women, on Sunday held a parade, Monday is the day of the Main Parade and Tuesday, people from the suburbs of Cologne dress to show off. The carnival season in Cologne officially starts on November 11 at 11:11.
• Main attraction: The Giants made ​​of paper-mache representing caricatures of German and international politicians.

Carnaval de Nice - Nice, France

• When: Mid-February.
• Attendance: 11 parades in 1000 presented by musicians and dancers from all over the world.
• Duration: The festivities are spread over a fortnight.
• Main attraction: The flower parade where more than 100,000 flowers are thrown into the crowd from the floats.

Intruz Goa - Panaji, India

• When: three or four days before Mardi Gras.
• Crowded: Dozens of tanks and hundreds of participants.
• Duration: Three to four days.