By Kenia Cris
Image by Simone Merli
Carnaval, Ā Masopust, BusĆ³jĆ”rĆ”s, Fastelavn, Carnival, Ā Fastnacht, ApokriĆ©, Sitalsasthi, Ā Vastenavond, Karneval, Ā FaÅ”iangy, Mardi Gras, Murga ā are some of the names for partiesĀ happening all around the world generally before Lent.
Patras, Greece – Ioannis Evagelou
Carnival tradition has European elements dating back to the followers of the Catholic religion, who started the tradition of wild costume festivals before the first day of Lent. The Festival was called āCarnivaleā which means āto put away the meatā since Catholics are not supposed to eat meat during Lent.
Cologne, Germany – Ingo Schultz
Cologne Carnival is organized by a committee, theĀ Festkomitee Kƶlner Karneval, which was created in 1823 and it’s one of the biggest in Europe.
Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands – Esperanza HernĆ”ndez Carralero
Vibrant colorful costumes, giant puppets, floats, folk music, masquerading, parades and carnival revellers dancing on the streets in major cities in different parts of the globe.
SĆ£o Paulo, Brazil – Levi Bianco
Brazil holds the biggest party in the world with different celebrations all through the country, which stops for nearly a week.
Cape Town, South Africa – Christoph Lenz
Kaapse Klopse, Cape Town Minstrel Festival, happens in January and brings mainly the working class to the streets to remember the horrors of slavery. Minstrels march in bright colored outfit carrying colorful umbrellas or playing musical instruments.
Bahia, Brazil – Priscila Lima
Notting Hill, England – Kevin Meredith
The Notting Hill Carnival, originated in 1964, Ā was a way for Afro-Caribbean communities to celebrate their own cultures and traditions.
Venice, Italy – Netcos81
New Orleans, USA – Chuck Patch
In New Orleans, inexpensive strings of beads and toys have been thrown from floats to parade-goers since Ā the late 19th century.
New York, USA – Hans Christian Barth
Venice, Italy – Bruce Croft
Notting Hill, England – Marcel Sauer
Basel, Switzerland – Robert Bargmann
In 1980,Ā TheĀ Federation of European Carnival Cities (FECC) was founded in an attempt to bring together cities, organizations and individual members Ā engaged in producingĀ carnivals which represent people’s authenticĀ cultural identity.
Cape Town, South Africa – Max Barners
