Carnival is a festive event held before the Christian observance of Lent, a forty-day period of prayer and fasting before the celebration of Easter. It is commonly held in countries with sizable Catholic populations, and is celebrated with costumes, parades and feasts. The word Carnival, roughly translated from Latin, means farewell to meat or farewell to flesh. It is a term that connotes both the coming period of solemnity and restraint as well as a sort of celebratory liberation from the body and everyday life.
Members of a comparsa, an Uruguayan carnival band, perform during the second night of the Llamadas parade in Montevideo February 10, 2012. The Llamadas, which is Spanish for "Call", originated during the colonial times when slaves played drums to keep in touch with relatives and friends. REUTERSDancers from Diablada Urus perform during the Carnival parade in Oruro, some 200 km (124 miles) south of La Paz, February 18, 2012. Partying and religion mingled in Bolivia's Carnival celebration in Oruro, a mining and commercial city of more than 200,000 people. REUTERSRevellers dressed as "Garabatos" perform during a carnival parade in Barranquilla February 19, 2012. REUTERSRevellers participate in a masked ball during celebrations for the "Carnival of All Colors" in Maragojipe city, northeastern Brazil February 20, 2012.
REUTERSPeople take part in celebrations at Mazatlan?s International Carnival 2012 named "The Fair of Empires" in the Mexican resort of Mazatlan February 18, 2012. The carnival will be held from February 16-21. Picture taken on February 18, 2012. REUTERSA cello pan player with the Katzenjammers steel orchestra plays with the band during the National Panorama finals held at the Queen's Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain February 18, 2012. Painted faces and colorful costumes are common in the steelband competition, one of the main shows held during the annual Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago.REUTERS