Carnival Around the World

During the time of carnival, the world turns topsy-turvy! Many countries around the world celebrate carnival in several ways, including parades, parties, shows, masquerades, pageants and other types of activities. During the days of carnival, people of all ages are out in the streets wearing costumes and masks. Today, the major festivities usually take place in small towns and cities. In fact, Malta holds its main celebrations in the streets of its capital city Valletta. However, a various activities take place throughout the island and also in Gozo.

Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Venice in Italy and New Orleans in the United States have probably the most popular carnival celebrations around the globe. Carnival in these cities is celebrated in a variety of styles. One of the traditional highlights in Rio de Janeiro is the parade of the country's top samba schools, while festivities in New Orleans are more similar to those that take place in Malta, but on a larger scale. These include coloured mobile floats and marching bands along the streets. While carnival in Malta has its King that reigns the parade, in New Orleans there can be either a King or a Queen.

The Brazilian carnival has some variations from that celebrated in Europe, moreover, there are also differences across the Brazilian territory. One of the variations is that in spite of the Catholic inspiration, Brazilians celebrate carnival more as a profane feast. Many say that Brazilians consider the carnival feast more important than Christmas. This is not the case in Malta, however, quite a good number of Maltese and Gozitans have the annual event of carnival at heart.

Maltese organise dancing competitions throughout the days of carnival. Similarly in Brazil, competitions between a large number of samba schools take place. In Malta, there is also the competition for the best float of the year, which is very popular.

The carnival in Venice is also a unique festival that like Brazil attracts thousands of tourists. The celebrations are very original when compared to other carnivals around the world. In fact, it is very different from the Maltese carnival, perhaps more sophisticated.

Numerous activities are held in St Mark's square and other squares, in theatres, streets and public buildings. The performances include actors, dancers, acrobats and musicians who create the right atmosphere. Carnival masks are the main attraction of the carnival in Venice. In the past, the aim of the masks was to hide the personality of the wearer.

Apart from these three cities, many other places have significant carnival celebrations as well. Many countries in Europe celebrate carnival, especially in Southern Europe. Polish people celebrate carnival with horse-drawn sleighs since the countryside is usually covered with snow at this period. In Malta, sometimes it rains during the carnival period. It is a pity when considering all the work done by hard-working people and carnival lovers.

In Austria, like Malta, students are encouraged to wear costumes to go to school. However, some Austrian workers go to work in their costumes too on Mardi gras.

There are also important celebrations in the Caribbean islands. The most two popular carnival festivities are those organised in Trinidad and Tobago. Similar to many countries, Trinidad and Tobago also organise parades with floats and marching bands and also hold competitions of the Kings and Queens.