Carnival Season 2012 is nearing its end. All over the world, celebrations have been held as a final pre-Lent bacchanalian festival -- a way to usher out the winter and welcome spring. Across Europe and the Americas, parades and festivals have been taking place for nearly a month, culminating in the largest, most famous party of all: the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In Rio this weekend, millions took to the streets for days of rowdy, joyous parades and festivities, bringing the nation to a halt for its annual wild party. Nearly 800,000 Brazilian and foreign tourists were expected join Rio's six million residents in the celebrations, whose climax comes on Sunday and Monday with the city's top samba schools putting on their extravagant processions. Gathered here are recent images of carnivals around the globe. [Also, don't miss Part 2, More from Carnival 2012]
Carnival 2012
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A member of from the Diablada Urus group, dressed as an angel, during the Carnival parade in Oruro, some 200 km (124 miles) south of La Paz, on February 18, 2012. Partying and religion mingle in Bolivia's Carnival celebration in Oruro, a mining and commercial city of more than 200,000 people. #
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A masked reveller in costume walks near the Piazza San Marco during the Venice carnival, on February 18, 2012. The 2012 edition of the Venice Carnival runs from February 4 to 21 entitled this year "Life is theatre! It's time to get masked". #
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People gather to watch a woman dressed in a traditional costume descend from the bell tower into Piazza San Marco, during the "Angel's flight", one of the highlights of the Venice Carnival, in Venice, Italy, on February 12, 2012. #
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Revellers of Rosas de Ouro samba school wait their turn on the opening night of parades at the Sambadrome, as part of Carnival celebrations in Sao Paulo, on February 18, 2012. #
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A Candombe dancer performs during Las Llamadas or parade of The Calls in Montevideo, Uruguay, on February 10, 2012. A feature of the Montevideo Carnival, Candombe is an Afro-Uruguayan rhythmic style music, which is based on the sound of three types of tambores or drums: its roots can be traced back to the 1700's when African slaves were brought to Uruguay. #
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A dancer and drummers perform along the streets of the "Sur" neighborhood during the second night of the "Llamadas" (Calls) parade of the carnival of Montevideo, on February 10, 2012. The "Llamadas" is Uruguay's biggest carnival parade, in which "comparsas" -- groups of dancers and drummers of the traditional "candombe" music -- compete for two consecutive nights. #
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LaToya DeLeon presents her creation titled "Heat Wave-The Last Of The Phenomenal Havoc," on the stage at Queen's Park Savannah, during the preliminaries of the King and Queen of Carnival competition in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, on February 9, 2012. #
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The parade of the 128th Nice carnival in Nice, France, on February 18, 2012. The parade celebrates the "King of Sport", with some 20 floats and running until March 04, 2012. #
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Dancers perform during a carnival parade in Barranquilla, Colombia, on February 18, 2012. Barranquilla's Carnival, a tradition cretaed by locals at the end of the 19th century as a response and to parody the celebration held by European immigrants and aristocracy, was declared a "Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" by the UNESCO in 2003. #
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Renascer Jacarepagua samba school parades at the Sambadrome, in Rio de Janeiro, on February 19, 2012. Rio's two nights of famously extravagant Carnival parades began in a burst of fireworks and to the cheers of festival goers who have been partying on the streets for days. #
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A reveller of Camisa Verde e Branco samba school adjusts her costume before the opening night of parades at the Sambadrome, in Sao Paulo, early on February 18, 2012. #
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