Trinidad Carnival 2012: Caribbean’s Biggest Party [SLIDESHOW]

The Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago is pulling out all the stops for two days of non-stop carnival celebrations.

While it's smaller than the Rio de Janeiro Carnival, Trinidad still expects 200,000 people on the streets and around the national stadium to cheer on the floats and costumed dancers to the blare of sound systems.

Along with the main street parade, known as mas, there are a number of other events, such as j'ouvert (street party) and calypso competitions.

One of the main draws of Trinidad's carnival is the band of the year competition to find the "Calypso Monarch", one of the greatest honours in the country.

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Join in the fun:

A masquerader on stage

Shynel Brizan's interpretation of the carnival's 'fire' theme in the preliminaries of the King and Queen of Carnival competition.

Twenty semi-finalists were chose from 74 competitors.

People dressed as 'red devils' perform fire-breathing during half time of the of the Soca Monarch competition.

Musical arranger Len 'Boogsie' Sharpe leads the Petrotrin Phase II steel orchestra during the National Panorama finals at the Queen's Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain

Competitor Adrian Young wows judges with his crow costume

Its vibrant history and French roots set the tone for Trinidad and Tobago's most significant celebration each year.

A performer wears a dragon costume during a traditional mas competition at Victoria Square, Port of Spain.

Machel Montano, winner of the Soca Monarch competition, performs next to a huge puppet mimicking his movements during the competition at Hasely Crawford stadium.

Elaborate costumes are par for the course

Stick fighters square off against each other. Stick fighting, a local tradition fought throughout the year in rural communities, is one of the highlights of the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival.