Carnival

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. (40 photos total)

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)