Carnival festivals have taken over Rio de
Janeiro and transformed the streets into a riot of colour as revellers
dance and drink at block parties with names like 'fire in the
underpants'.
Over
six million people, including 1.5 million visitors, are expected to
take to the streets of Rio for the annual celebrations, which pit the
city's 13 best samba schools against one another in ornate parades that
can cost over $2million (£1.4million) a piece.
To
launch the 'world's biggest party' on Friday, officials handed a
glittering key to the city to King Momo, a figurehead who presides over
the partying and who, according to legend, was expelled from Mount
Olympus before moving to Rio, the so-called 'wonderful city.'
Festival attendees are expected
to drop some 3.5 billion reais ($1.1 billion) on the city, with some
paying over $1,000 (£720) for tickets to watch the top samba schools
shimmy down the 700-meter (2,300-ft) runway at the sambadrome stadium.
Elsewhere
in the city, locals and tourists decked out in glitter and tutus will
sip beer and dance to powerful drums at over 400 more informal block
parties with names like 'Lie down but don't sleep,' and 'Worm's crotch.'
The
festival, whose roots lie in a tradition of carnal indulgence before
the austere Roman Catholic season of Lent, officially ends next
Wednesday.
Major carnival parades and
other festivities will also take place in other cities, including Sao
Paulo, Brazil's biggest metropolis, and Salvador, a city in the
northeast.
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