Carnival is a name given to the festival season which usuallyconsists of a parade or street party and can go on for days. Carnival often has religious connections and is celebrated by a variety of religious communities in many countries around the world. Each country has its own take on this period of festivity and the variety seen in tradition accross these countries is one of the most interesting aspects of the carnival season.

The carnival season alway begins during the period leading up to lent. People often dress up, wear masks, watch colourful and interesting parades and processions which mark the overturning of daily life in the respective cities in which it takes place. It is traditionally a Catholic festival and although its origins have religious roots in a modern setting it is often viewed more secularly and celelbrated by people of all religions.

The city of Venice on the Italian peninsula has a long history of carnival celebrations but these traditions lay dormant up until around the 1970′s when the government revived the old tradition. Art, culture and the well known style of Venetian shopping and fashion were suddenly rejoined by carnival and this festival swiftly rejoined the citys repertoire of famous tourist attractions. The culture of mask wearing has strong roots in the Venetian carnival tradition. This was seen as a way of enabling social engagment and breaking down, or at least hindering soical barriers.

The biggest Carnival in the world takes place in Rio de Janeiro. Rio de Janeiro is the Capital City of the State of Rio de Janeiro, and is the second largest city in Brazil. This year the Rio de Janeiro festival will take place from the 18^th -21^st of February and huge numbers of visitors are expected to descend on the city to take part in the celebrations. A parade takes place every day during Carnival. The Sambadrome is the setting for the parades and members of all the samba schools take part in it. The parades start at 9pm and continue on into the early hours. Each school competes during the carnival, they each take between 70 and 80 minutes to make their way along the route.

Carnival in New Orleans is a one day festival called Mardi Gras and takes place this year on February 21st. Fat Tuesday is another name for this festival, which always takes place on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. During Mardi Gras the whole of New Orleans shuts down for the day to party. People spend the day walk around enjoying the parades and admiring eachothers costumes

Carnival in Germany takes place this year from the 20^th until 22^nd of February. Munich, Cologne and Mainz are the centres for Carnival celebrations, which see a wide variety of celebrations including parades, balls and costumes and the traditional election of the Carnival King.

The festival in Dublin in Ireland is slightly different to the others as it’s celebrated on the same date every year. The St Patricks Festival is celebrated over a few days, culminating in an elaborate parade on March 17th which is the feast day of St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.

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