Brazil Carnival 2009 Photo Gallery

It is Carnival Season in many countries around the world with a Roman Catholic heritage. Celebrations and parades put on just prior to the observance of Lent. Tomorrow will be the Mardi Gras in New Orleans, but the past couple of weeks have seen parades and celebrations throughout Europe, the Caribbean and South America - notably Venice, Italy and Brazil. Collected here are just a glimpse of some of the elaborate celebrations of this Carnival season.

Ana Maria Tavarez reacts after being crowned the Tenerife Carnival Queen 2009 during a carnival gala in Santa Cruz de Tenerife on the Spanish Canary Island of Tenerife, late February 18, 2009. (REUTERS/Santiago Ferrero)

A queen of the drums of the Vai-Vai samba school parades at the Sambadrome as part of Carnival celebrations in Sao Paulo, Brazil, early on February 22, 2009. (MAURICIO LIMA/AFP/Getty Images)

French cabaret dancers from the Moulin Rouge pose during a photo call in Rio de Janeiro February 20, 2009. The dancers are in Rio de Janeiro from 20-24 February to participate in the carnival festivities by the top samba groups. (REUTERS/Sergio Moraes)

Disabled participants from Leandro de Itaquera samba school parade on wheelchairs at the Sambadrome in Sao Paulo, Brazil, late on February 21, 2009. (MAURICIO LIMA/AFP/Getty Images)

A woman from Perola Negra samba school parades during the carnival in Sao Paulo February 22, 2009. (REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker)

A participant named Drag Noa performs at a drag queen competition during carnival festivities in Las Palmas on the Spanish Canary Island of Gran Canaria, late February 20, 2009. (REUTERS/Borja Suarez)

Missoni fashion house heir Margherita Missoni is lowered by cable while suspended above Saint Mark's square in Venice, Italy February 15, 2009. The event, called Flight of the Angel, marked the start of the Carnival in the lagoon city. (REUTERS/Commune Di Venezia/Handout)

Revellers take part in the annual carnival in the Adriatic city of Imotski, Croatia on February 22, 2009. (REUTERS/Stringer)

A majorette jumps through the air as she takes part in the "Rose Monday" carnival parade in the western German city of Cologne on February 23, 2009. (AFP PHOTO DDP/MICHAEL GOTTSCHALK)

A member of Tom Maior samba school parades through the Sambadrome, as part of Carnival celebrations, in Sao Paulo, Brazil early February 21, 2009. (MAURICIO LIMA/AFP/Getty Images)

Academicos do Grande Rio samba school dancers perform in the Sambodrome on the first night of the Carnival samba school parade in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on February 23, 2009. (VANDERLEI ALMEIDA/AFP/Getty Images)

The Brazilian Carnival, properly spelled Carnaval, is an annual festival in Brazil held four days before Ash Wednesday, the day of fasting and repentance that marks the beginning of Lent. On certain days of Lent, Roman Catholics and some other Christians traditionally abstained from the consumption of meat and poultry -- hence the term "carnival," from carnelevare, "to remove (literally, "raise") meat." Carnival celebrations are believed to have roots in the pagan festival of Saturnalia, which, adapted to Christianity, became a farewell to certain pleasures of the flesh in a season of religious discipline to practice repentance and prepare for Christ's death and resurrection.

Brazilian Carnival exhibits some differences from its European counterparts, having mixed Euro, Native and African elements. Furthermore, rhythm, participation, and costume vary from one region of Brazil to another. For example, in the southeastern cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, organized parades led by samba schools vie for prizes on the "sambodromo" open stage. Only samba-school affiliates participate in the shows. Smaller cities often have no public events but promote balls in recreational clubs.

The northeastern cities of Salvador, Porto Seguro and Recife have organized groups parading through streets, but watchers are also welcome to dance. They follow the "trio elétrico" floats through the city streets.